I'm a hard working fool. What I'm working on varies considerably. I like most creatures which lack a backbone or fly. I'm a terminal geek, a sometime gamer, and a crazy artist person.
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 TentacleScarf 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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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 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
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!
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 <.<
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.
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:
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.
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
