De Young

More museum adventures.

This time from the De Young:
The De Young has a small yet beautiful selection of turn of the century ceramics - which are also very difficult to photograph nicely XP
This first piece is from the Weller Pottery Studio by Jacques Sicard in Ohio around 1905-ish. It looks like some kind of Raku or luster going on. I don't know how he did it, but I want to learn o=










The De Young Museum also has a nice collection of Native American pottery including this awesome Pueblo piece. It was made in 1950 in New Mexico by Rose Chino.

Wherever I go, I must find the things with the creepy crawlies. In this case, it's a bug on this Hopi Pueblo jar made by Jean Sahmie in the '40s. The crazy stairs are pretty awesome too.






Finally, the De Young has a 9th floor lookout tower thing you can go to (complete with yet another gift shop XP). We went there and lounged on their bizarre triangle benches. If they had been more comfortable, I would have taken a nap. Instead, I took some pictures. You can see the entrance and domed roof of the Cal Academy of Science, and the city of San Francisco in the background.

















It was a long day, but a nice trip all together :)

Legion

As promised, pictures form my SF Museum adventures o=

First off is the Legion of Honor:
This guy looks like a Minoan piece to me. The label only says South Italian from around 335BC. I like it because it has crazy sea creatures, and is that an eyeball in the center? I think so :D







The next piece also has a lot of critters. It is from the fancy porcelain room at the Legion by a man named Bernard Palissy in 1500s France. He liked to make casts from dead critters to make his decorations, and he liked natural things as you can see by this platter. It has oak leaves, fern leaves, grape, acorns, shells, a snake and a lizard probably cast from the real thing. The colors are a little bit blotchy, but I must say, I love this guy XD.




The porcelain room had a lot of what I'd call bug-wear. That is to say many of the plates, cups, and dishes were decorated by some sort of insect. This tureen was the granddaddy of them all however. It was made in Chantilly around 1735-1745 of a low fire porcelain (called soft paste porcelain). Not only does it have the awesomeness to be a three dimensional pumpkin with vine handles and a pomegranate finial, it is also covered in different types of insects. Epic.

































I felt that a note must be made about this painting. It is wonderfully executed with watercolor and graphite on paper, but the subject matter is also enjoyable. It is called Love and Its (His) Counterfeits and was painted in 1904. You've got a line of characters with their various riches, tales, and vanities in front of a woman's door. Her expression is priceless - a silent "good grief" to all this hullabaloo. It is at this point I found the painting was indeed made by a woman, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, who lived from 1872-1945, and I felt a general sense of kinship :B

It seems that blogger has eaten my other photos as well as being dumb in regards to post editing (it is not logical! D:<), so I'll leave the De Young museum for later XP

Something Tiny...

I have just ventured to the presently wet and cold land of San Francisco. I visited the Legion of Honor this afternoon, and the De Young museum this evening along with Mama-san and my ceramics class. I hope to have some pictures up soonish, but I'm knackered at the moment - so much so that I did not stick around to see You Say Party! We Say Die! It is a loss I will have to bear XP


Anyway, I stumbled upon a little book full of pictures of little people. It is by an artist named Slinkachu (a bazaar Pokemon perhaps?). Slinkachu sets up fantastical little scenes composed of tiny people in large cities. They are small and unnoticable to the unwary passer by making them all the more compelling. My particular favorites are the one with the Cheetos, the one with the bee, and the snails. Enjoy :D


Special Bonus Observations!
-Parking at the Legion of Honor sucks, apparently always.
-Parking at the De Young is pretty nice, you can pay for the garage, but there's lots of free street parking if you're okay with walking a little.

-Food at the Legion of Honor is pretty good. Mama-san and I split a large fancy sandwich and had tea for about $10 apiece (I think less actually).
-Food at the De Young is delicious, but in small portions (just like Arnold Rimmer???). I ordered the ravioli for dinner, and I got three, on a lovely bed of chard. I ate a lot of French fries to make up the rest of the meal...

-If they can charge money for it, they will.
-However, the student rate of $6 for both museums is quite good.

-Legion of Honor actually has some very nice stuff. There's a room of fancy porcelain dishes and tea sets (many with bugs on them). A hall with various Greek, Minoan, and Egyptian pottery, and many nice paintings and sculpture. We checked out their impressionist wing which was interesting (though lacking the Goya they mention on their map D: ) and swung through the Rodin sculpture areas among others. I was disappointed that their Cartier exhibition cost so much. I opted to save my money this time XP
-De Young has quite a bit more stuff than the Legion, but I generally felt like there was less stuff of interest to me (of course, since their map was so crappy, maybe I just didn't see it?). They do have a very nice Amish Quilt exhibition up (for free!). I want to make a quilt now :3 They have some excellent ceramics of the more modern variety as well as some lovely Native American pots (some of which depicted bugs). They also have a large ethnic selection of art (that's specific isn't it?) as well as a 9th floor lookout, and live music on Friday nights. After a full day of museum hopping and a minuscule dinner, I found it rather loud, but still enjoyable. Finally, I didn't see the King Tut exhibit because it was beyond my budget. I do plan to see the Impressionist exhibit in June.

Something Amazing!

The average everyday plant-like crinoid not only walks about, it swims!

Crinoidea is the fancy name for feather stars and sea lilies. They look very plant or coral like but are actually relatives of the starfish. They tend to have feathery arms in multiples of five, and they sit on stalks (in sea lilies) or have little feet called cirri (in feather stars). Feather stars can walk around on their cirri, or they can swim about using their ten arms (it's crazy!). Check out the videos for more.

An informational video by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. A good overview of the Crinoid order. It finishes with a breathtaking shot of a swimming feather star.



For those of you with ADD, here's the short version:



Bonus song: Help I'm Alive by Metric. It's what I'm listening to while I type :B

@.@!

Soooo tired...

I've had a fun time these last two weeks. I caught a nasty case of the flu which I then made worse by visiting Davis last weekend. I crashed this last week (figuratively speaking), but still attended a birthday party this weekend and went to my aquarium shift this afternoon/evening. In conclusion, I'm completely wiped. I still have three night classes to go before Thursday however, so goodness knows what condition I'll be in later :P

In the meantime, I'm in the process of listing a couple of new scarves on my Etsy.
Check 'em out here:

ACEO! ACEO! ACEO!

I discovered the wide world of art trading cards, little pieces of art.

Just My Size:
I was bopping about the wilds of Etsy and came across This little guy by DeadPanAlley. At first I thought to myself that it was a cute little painting, but I realized that I never really investigated the term ACEO (Art Cards, editions and originals) which are the bought and sold versions of artist trading cards (rather than the traded between artist versions). The more I thought about it, the more I enjoyed the idea of tiny little works. I very often like to work in tiny, so I finally found myself a piece of paper to cut up and tried my hand using my usual medium, pen and ink.




You can see my lovely pictures taken on top of the ancient laptop I am using. The first attempt featuring Squidbot and a jellyfish is a bit disjointed... I didn't really have a plan going in.

The second attempt entitled "What's this doing here?!" is for a friend's birthday and is a much more solid work.

The third piece called "Don't Sink Your Boat," after the Flogging Molly song (not usually a big fan, but I love this song) is a little rough on the left, but is overall what I imagined.

Finally, the last piece, and my favorite is called "My Heart Sinks Like a Stone..." after the line in the Airborn Toxic Event song ("and my heart sinks like a stone, a stone, a stone"). I've envisioned this picture just about every time I've listened to the song, but never had the courage or fortitude to draw it. That's why these little art cards are so awesome. I don't have to commit to a whole piece and have it go south after hours of work, and yet it is still a valid piece of art. Having done these smaller versions successfully, I might go on to make some bigger ones, but for the moment, I'm having fun making little guys :D






In Other News:
My car insurance wasn't as messed up as I thought it was Yay! I didn't have to drive to Capitola. Instead, I got sick! Very sick. I had a fever and a swollen throat and aching ears. I feel better now, though still crappy XP

In Still Other News, From the TV:
Mens short program in figure skating was pretty cool. There were still a lot of tumbles, but I felt that they were less numerous than in pairs and more often because someone was trying to be too tricky. One of the issues I have with how skating is judged is the point system which puts an over emphasis on doing tricks instead of doing everything. In the pairs, it felt like if the skaters did enough tricks, they could still flub a great deal and get high placings. I think the men's competition is a little more balanced, but still skewed with the second place skater, America's Lysacek, barely behind the Russian skater, Plushenko. Plushenko did a quad jump. Lysacek didn't, but outskated Plushenko in all other aspects... is a quad really worth that much?

I'd also like to make mention of Johnny Weir. A bit of an odd duck to be sure, but an awesome skater. He has the habit of not starting his jumps how the judges think skaters should, so he's only in sixth (is it really that important?) despite a very well done routine. I think he deserves higher standing. I also enjoyed the two Japanese skaters, especially the younger one, Oda, and the Swiss skater, Lambiel, who did an awesome version of the William Tell Overture (classic XD). Unfortunately he missed some of his jumps, so he's probably not going to medal XP

In other news Lindsey Vonn kicked ass in women's downhill. She impressed me by crossing the finish line basically on one ski. She had injured herself previously and apparently had a great deal of pain though she still won gold. Nice.

Finally, I watched Shaun White on the halfpipe for the first time today. My goodness that man can fly. Those people are crazy @.@

What's All This Then?

I haven't been posting as much lately because I've had much more to do away from the computer, and when I'm not being busy, I've been watching the Olympics! This has resulted in a great deal of crochet o=


The Busy:
As you know, I've been volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This last Sunday was my second day in training. It's going well, but it is pretty tiring (for someone who's been sitting on their butt most of the winter anyway XP). It didn't help that this last weekend was a holiday, and the annual Pebble Beach golf tournament (a star studded event) was also going on. It took me over two hours to drive home, usually 45 minute to an hour, gah! D:

In addition to the volunteering, I signed up for the ceramics class at community college. I've been taking classes out of this lab on and off for the last ten years, so the teacher knows me pretty well, and I get to work on a lot of my own projects. I want to start getting more serious about my ceramics as I am considering going back to college to get an MFA. Also, the Aquarium's Guide Class (to become a real guide instead of an apprentice) is starting this next week, so Monday through Wednesday, I'll be spending my evenings at one class or the other.

Finally, I find myself driving to Capitola tomorrow to pay the insurance on my car. Apparently, it lapsed almost a month ago... long story, and totally not my fault :D
XP


The Olympics:
I wasn't going to watch too much of the Olympics this year. I almost totally tuned out the summer games two years ago. I do really enjoy the winter games however, and find myself staring at the TV with everyone else. I thought the opening ceremonies were pretty cool. Their projector doohickeys and special effects were neat, and I'm especially impressed that they had a slam poet, but I was disappointed that a lot (if not all) of the singing and tap dancing noises were obviously dubbed. Not cool. Also, there's a giant raptor fence surrounding the Olympic Flame, so people can't get up close, or even take a nice picture. Not cool. And let's not get into the Luge track...

I enjoy the snowboard cross. I like snowboards, and it is my dream to some day be on one (this is a monetary and distance issue). In the meantime, I just watch the cross :B
Most things that are racing oriented are interesting to me. I like the long track speed skating and have been watching some skiing. I like the one with all the bumps and jumps and flips (you know with the funny name... Moguls).

Finally, I started watching Ice Skating again. I stopped for a while because I found so much of it to be un-compelling. It has been more about doing tricks than artistry in recent years, and the way they have the points set up, a lot of the scoring seem nonsensical. Also, it seems like many of the new skaters are less skilled than they were in the past. I feel like a big fumble used to be relatively rare, but most of the top ten pairs all had big fumbles tonight. Did it used to be like this? Am I suffering from selective memory? I durno :S

I was totally prepared to be against the top two Chinese pairs, but I found them to be very good (and pretty adorable), and the Germans were also very good despite their problems. The two American pairs didn't place highly, but I liked them both, particularly Evora and Ladwig. Overall, I think a lot of the artistry, the dance, that I have been missing is coming back, so it is becoming interesting again. But please Olympics, can we get rid of the skate grabbing thing?

:P

Camera Crazy

Among other things...


It was a lovely sunny day here in the Land of Gilroy. So nice that I decided to synthesize some vitamin D. It may be February, but there are definately touches of springtime in the air.




My first picture is of Nessie, a large ceramic sculpture I made many years ago, with the shadows cast by Love in the Mist seed pods (appropriate for the month eh?).







Spring is often marked by Dandelions. I hope they'll last til April!


















I love how they look when the sun shines through the petals :)













There were some clouds left over from last nights rain. One parked itself here for a time. I feel like this is my Sistine chapel shot :B






















Lichen that presently grows along our set of walnut trees. As you can probably guess, these trees aren't doing too well, but they are covered with some great lookin' lichen! You can tell that the fungus half (lichen = algae + fungus) is some sort of Ascomycota or cup fungus :3

I find the second picture interesting. It shows the yellow/orange lichen and a second color set of white/burgundy. I don't know if the white/burgundy is just straight fungus or the lichen after it has died, or some other such thing, but it's cool.




I found this guy crawling in between our solar powered lights and the Alyssum. It's a Hemipteran of some sort with red eyes o=










Recently PG&E came and cut down the Eucalyptus trees we had growing under the power lines (who thought that was a good idea?). As you can see, the wood is a nice orange-red color. As you can also see by the width of the inner rings, these trees grow really fast. They're basically giant weeds. Once you got 'em, good luck getting rid of them D:

Eucalyptus fun fact: Firefighters often refer to Eucalyptus as "Gasoline Trees" because the high oil content of bark and leaves burn so readily, yay :D






















Ninja Chickens! Some of our young black Minorca and red New Hampshire chickens tried to sneak up on me. Later, everyone followed me to the back gate. Silly chickens!
















Your humble narrator :B

My Monkey

Do you know who Jonathan Coulton is?
If not, you life has been deprived (or depraved) of one of the contemporary musical greats. He is the writer of the song Still Alive featured at the end credits for the game Portal (have you heard of him now?) as well as many other classics such as Re: Your Brains, Code Monkey, and Skullcrusher Mountain to name some. He's probably got a song which appeals to just about everyone. Check him out at his website or on Youtube. You won't be sorry :3


Arts!
In other news, I have submitted some work for the Anti-Valentine Auction at Works/San Jose. The auction will take place this Friday (Feb. 5th) during San Jose's First Friday Art Walk from 12-10pm where you can place a bid, buy a piece right away, or just eat the food and ogle the art. I'll see you there, provided I haven't died from the plague I've recently contracted.


Sale!
I'm having a week long sale on my cards at the BugsAndMonsters shop. Cards are one of the few things I can have on sale without breaking the bank (so to speak), so take advantage of it. Get them before Valentine's Day!

A Scarf Spectacular!

I often do searches on Etsy to see what the best tags are for my products, which words get the most visibility, etc. While looking to see where my Tentacle Scarf listings were showing up, I found a veritable cornucopia of geekery for your neck. Here is some of what you find when you are searching for a scarf under the "geekery" tab.

First on our list is this lovely number from Creepling:














This is the octopus to my squid :B



Next is an exciting combination of micro and scope by KatyAndZucchini:















From micro to macro, these ants are pretty spiffy as well.


UrbanPrincess brings us some old school pixels:


















WindOfTheStar makes a scarf with a familiar blue box:











This could be made even more awesome by the presence of a Dalek and/or David Tennant (or John Sim).




This next one by Crrysstall goes out to my brother and R. Stevens:












Bacon is now a scarf, enjoy!





The Geekiest thing out there award goes to AlysaMerle's custom work:







Your name in binary! Epic. Only slightly less geeky is the Pi scarf :3






Not seen here are the numerous boobie scarves (numerous!), Doctor Who scarves, animal scarves, and a couple of scoodies which were cute, but I've already spent too much time on this :B

To the sea!

A couple of interesting ocean related things.

Yay Target!
Target has decided to stop selling Atlantic farmed salmon and will be stocking Pacific Alaskan salmon instead. This is exciting. "Why should I be excited?" You ask. Alaskan salmon are very well managed. They cost a bit more, but you'll still be able to buy them in fifty years. They contain only natural ingredient (free of pink dyes used by farms to make the flesh pink), and they haven't been swimming in their own concentrated excrement most of their lives (MMmmm farmed salmon D:). Also, salmon farming practices produce a great deal of waste and pollution directly in the ocean (see excrement).

For more fun food facts, and to see the best choices in seafood, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program. You can print out a pocket guide, or checkout the bestest seafood for you and the oceans :D
/plug


Yay Octopus!
Did you know that octopus use tools?... Actually, if you've spent any time at all reading about octopus, this should come as no surprise to you, but here's a cute little guy who carries around a coconut shell. The veined octopus (from Indonesia) picks out coconut shells discarded by humans. The cephalopods carry them along until they feel a need to hide. Then they make like a turtle and climb into a little coconut shell box. Silly Cephs o=


Pacific Travelers:
Finally, I give you the real time tracking site, TOPP for tags on Pacific pelagic animals. You can see the tracks of different species of sharks, seals, albatross (ALBATROSS!), and a sea turtle. Also some maps of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a. I recommend pushing all the buttons :B


Other News:
The continuing saga of my moving has found me opening some boxes I haven't seen since I packed them a year an a half ago when I left Davis for parts unknown (the East Coast). I have found some lovely things such as my pencil cup, my floppy disk collection, three stuffed animals, artwork, notes, drawings, and some old cartoons. Over the coming weeks and months, I'm going to share some of these since they are either cool or hilarious, so stay tuned.
Otherwise, I have about three commissions and an auction I'm juggling amongst other things. I'm putting some pieces together for The Works Anti-Valentine Auction in San Jose... I must buy a frame tomorrow.

Dude, I think someone might read this o.O

Did you know I have comments?!
... I didn't <.<;;

But seriously folks, thanks for stopping in :3


And now for today's entertainment I give you Science!
Meet the Elements:

An introduction to what goes into an elephant by They Might Be Giants.

For a more thorough take, try naming all the elements:

A delightful song by Tom Lehrer. I have a version on CD in which he says "there will be a test on this later" in the middle :P

Why the Sun really shines:

Refuting their previous statement that "the sun is a mass of incandescent gas," They Might be giants are going with the now hip, "the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma" o=

I'd also urge you to check out "I am a Paleontologist", "The Mesopotamians", the original "Why Does the Sun Shine", and of course the ever classic "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants. Enjoy :D

Holy Buprestidae Batman!

Some things just stop you in your tracks. I found myself engrossed in aquakej's Etsy shop while checking on the best tags to use for my items. Here I've been trying to mimic insectine beauty for years, and this woman has simply used the insects themselves!















In addition to just looking awesome, the use of real insects can be environmentally beneficial. Instead of cutting down their land to grow corn or graze cattle, an insect farmer usually requires a rain forest to stay in place. In the examples which I have read, a farmer grows an abundance of the desired insects food plant, and the insects lay their eggs in this patch. Some of the chrysalis' (chrysalises? chrysali? chrysalie? chrysalahhh-haa!) are gathered up to pupate in controlled circumstances while some are left to grow into a wild adult which will later lay eggs in the farmers patch (we hope).
An alternative to this method is to propagate host plants in a more controlled environment and keep a breeding stock supplemented with wild populations. This generally requires a stable stand of native plants including host and non-host varieties (for various reasons, one being so you can control the population growth of the bugs your breeding), and a stable wild population.

Anyway, the jewelry is cool, bug farming is interesting. Check it out :3

How shall I describe?

or "God damn I'm tired! @.@"


I feel an explanation is due. I had told some folks to expect me to be on the job early in the month, yet I have continued to waffle and let things slide. One of the reasons is a rather unexpected, yet grueling two week class to become an apprentice guide at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Whoo!). I have just completed the last day of that class, and you can catch me at the Aquarium every other Sunday starting in another week :)

One issue is my move from living in the Craft Room (because I'd only be here a few months until I got a fancy new job...) to the now open room downstairs. The problem here is that the open room wasn't really open. It contained my sewing machine, Mom's sewing machine, a cutting table, Dad's radio stuff, his laptop, three tables as well as loads of fabric (some mine) and the remnants from the rooms previous inhabitants. I have been playing an exciting life size version of Tetris for two weeks >.>

Another going on is that my Onee-chan (that's Big Sister) and her family are moving from upstate New York to the Los Angeles area, so they're around and about. Right now, the three kids are camped out upstairs. This isn't a big deal, but it still adds to the count.

I have some Etsy orders which I need to make. Some require my sewing machine. I need to take my sewing machine apart and clean it, so it does not break in such a way that I must pay a guy a hundred bucks to fix it (D: ). To take it apart, I need table space and time. Right now, this is my only source of income, and I need to be working on it more.

Amidst all of this is the question of my very poor health. I am tired most of the time, and if I get two things done in a day using my own motivational forces, I consider it miraculous. Also, the idea folks around here have about motivation is one of antagonism, which is to say I must first deal with their negativity before my own.
I'm keeping my head down and plodding along as I usually do. It's a long road however, and many of these things have turned into full blown catastrophes (see: moving). I do apologize if any of your orders, events, letters, or other correspondence have been set aside or delayed.

Anyway, FYI (or possibly TMI) :B

More stuff you can't live without :B

As usual, you can click on the images to go to the original listing.




A Beardaclava by Freight. Sometimes this mustache thing goes too far :P









Catnip Eyeballs by Hannapt. I do enjoy a good eyeball. Their shop byline "and maybe a stick too" is also a source of amusement to me.











Princess and Pilot inspired Kokechi dolls by Temple7e. The workmanship on these dolls is lovely. Some folks are even getting custom sets for their wedding cakes o=










I'd also recommend a stop by the Antiquity Gamecrafters on Etsy. They have some beautiful reproductions of ancient games. I wants to play them all! D:

I just bought tea from the interwebs o.O

I know it sounds hazardous. For all I know it could be laced with arsenic, but Teaman has apparently sold hundreds of teabags to people, and it's free (less shipping), so I thought I'd give it a go. I went with the Decaf Chai :B


Has everyone been to WikiHow? It is an excellent source of information you never thought you needed, such as how to make Tootsie Rolls with your microwave, the basics in Lock Picking, or the time honored art of Furoshiki (or how to use a square cloth to carry anything).
I started by looking for the Furoshiki article. Some people have been using the techniques to wrap presents for the holidays, and I was curious. Now, I want to get some silk scarves and cut my hair in an interesting manner :B


Has anyone noticed that you can now click on a link and have it open in a new tab or window automagically?! This has been made possible by using my mad hax0r skillz (aka Bobo the Circus Squirrel telling me what to do) :D

My Brains! My Brains!

They're melting out my ears D:


Goodness, but I'm tired! I spent this evening at the Monterey Bay Aquarium at my apprentice guide training class. I am going to be an apprentice guide :D It shall be awesome. Tonight we got to play with the touch pools. I think I enjoyed petting the urchin the most, but I also learned about handling the animals, kelp defenses, and plankton. Additionally, one of the epic level manager types gave a talk, in character, about working at the canneries back in the day.

I spent a bit more time with one of my group members who is quite young and significantly less jaded than I am. It was kind of a weird backwards mirror. It makes me think I need to be less cantankerous, but it also makes me think of how I was naive in so many places (and still am really) before I went to school o.O
More on this later.

BugsAndMonsters:
I have put a couple of Valentine's Day cards up on my Etsy. Check them out!

More designs to follow.


Beware the thrall of science:
I went to LiveScience yesterday to look at an article about photosynthesizing nudibranchs (sea slugs). While I was there, I became interested in articles about how the particular areas where fat accumulates can have serious health effects, and how cell phones may save us from Alzheimer's among other things.

But back to the nudibranchs (or nudie brancs if you like ;). These are wacky creatures. Many nudibranchs contain stinging cells as a defense mechanism, but they do not produce the cells. They eat anemones and somehow conscript the cells into their own tissues intact! This article describes a new kind of sea slug which scientist have found to conscript chloroplasts (those are photosynthesizing cells from plants and algae). Even more, these slugs have taken the genes to make chlorophyll (the pigment plants use to photosynthesize), and put them in their own DNA. They don't need to eat if they get enough sunlight. All they have to do is get themselves a bunch of chloroplasts and go. They've become the terminators of the ocean!

Practicing the Clarinet

Some silly stuff for today, starting with the ballad of G.I. Joe :D

The Ballad of G.I. Joe from Olivia Wilde

This video was far more worth it than the movie, even with Chirstopher Eccleston as Destro (it could have been good). Can you guess who all those people were?


A classic Decemberists video full of hi jinx.

A band which you will probably either love or hate. I'm in the former category.


Finally, I stumbled upon the A-team movie trailer. Yes that is a parachuting tank <.<

Enjoy :D

Well, I'm disgusted

A New York Times article talking about H&M and Walmart stores destroying unsold merchandise rather than doing anything at all useful or responsible with it.

I understand that you don't just want to toss it out the back. People might stop coming in the front, but there are better options than adding it to a landfill. Turn it into good press: "Walmart donates some tons of clothing to the needy." Recycle it. Something. Anything.

What disconcerts me the most is the thought of who else might be doing this, and why it takes them being publicly outed for them to stop.

/rant XP

OMG wall of text!

Health Stuff:
It seems that fate has conspired to present me with some interesting health articles today.
The first is a TED talk given by National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner about longevity, and what keeps people young, or at least in working condition:

There are many aspects of his talk that I found interesting. First is the notion of incidental exercise, which is my preferred method. I don't exercise (though some days I feel like I need to), but I try to maximize the amount of exercise that "gets in my way." I park far away from where I'm going. It's easier to find a spot there anyway. I take the stairs which are often faster and less crowded. Not only are you being healthsome with these habits, You're being environmentally healthsome too!

The second is the idea of community and friendship. I spent the most dreadful year of my life when I first went to college. I started off not knowing anyone, and kept not knowing anyone (except for Seth of course ;P) due to a great deal of illness. The lack of companionship did nothing to help my situation. What's more, your friends keep you motivated to do things. They keep you moving, thinking, and happy. Friends make you happy. That's why you have them. I can imagine a pretty dismal old age spent alone.

There's also the idea of taking a mental or spiritual break in the talk. This is something I found myself doing a lot in school, even when I didn't mean to. I'd just become incapable of doing my work and have to do something else. I watched many crappy movies on FX those years. The talk points out people who regularly take time to rest and reflect. I think I should try this.

Finally faith and diet are also apparently important. Faith tends to keep people together and talking with a common interest, but I think it's the common interest and the together which makes the difference, not the particular reason for it (I'd like to think so anyway). Diet is harder. I feel that diet, like exercise, needs to be incidental. You eat well because it is what you like to eat, not because you're stressing out about what you're eating. I believe the trick is to figure out what you like to eat that's also "eating well." And when you do, let me know :B

PS: When he says your cells are damaged a little every time they turn over, he is talking about DNA replication. In the process of replication, a little bit of DNA is lost on each end (this has to do with starting the replication process). It starts of with junk DNA, stuff you don't use, but as you get older, you begin to run out of that useless stuff and may get into the used stuff. This equals aging :D




Thing number two in our health topic is this article from Slate. I tried taking vitamins for a while, but eventually found them to be more trouble than they were worth. Apparently, that fact remains true. The notes on antioxidants are also interesting. It reminds me of an article I read a long time ago about cancer cells actually stockpiling antioxidants as a defense against your immune system. Disconcerting to be sure, I'm still drinking my tea however.


As a final note to brighten your day, I give you Fizzgig, stuffed and with a purse strap:

Funny Things Are Everywhere

I like to look at what people like, who also like my stuff... that is to say; If you heart something of mine on Etsy, I will most likely take a look at the things in your favorites. It often begins a journey through an eclectic and epic series of shops which I sometimes feel a driving need to share.

Exhibit #1:

An airship steampunk grenade! It even has a little wick at the bottom. Tell me that is not made of win?















Exhibit #2:

Molecular model jewelry! It would be cool if they expanded beyond drugs and water molecules. I can think of a few benzene rings which I would enjoy (TNT anyone?).





Exhibit #3:

A magnet set featuring an international man of mystery. I enjoy the bazaar images in this set, but I enjoyed the description even more.








In other news:
I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium tonight for a volunteer informational meeting. I'm hoping that I'll get to be a volunteer guide this next year.

There Will Be Blog

Why Hello Thar!

I once wrote a goal oriented essay about finding a topic for my goal oriented essay. I feel much the same as I try to figure out a proper introduction to this blog, so please bear with me (or bare with me, whatever suits your fancy).

Me:
I am what you might call a jack of all interests. Many things arouse my curiosity. I am also a practicing artist and a pretend scientist - I have degrees in both and a job in neither. As a result, you'll find all kinds of oddball things here. There will be updates from my Etsy shop, notes on what I'm working on, some tutorials (I hope), random musings, and cool stuff I have dug up from the interwebs.


News From BugsAndMonsters:

I just listed a cool tentacle scarf which I'm very excited about. It was inspired partly from the works of Creepling on Etsy and real squid tentacles. I'm working on some more which I will list soon (if I haven't decided to keep them all for myself!).

I also have some other stuff in process: drawings, cards, squids, etc.

I still haven't gotten to cleaning out the sewing machine. It has so much fabric fuzz in there, that I'm afraid to use it at all until I've taken it apart. Look forward to pictures of its innards :D


Cool Stuff:

Did you know that you can download pictures from the Hubble Telescope website? You can get your own free copies of the Deep Field shots, galaxies, cool nebula, or a hovering sombrero. Check it out :3