Wandering through E-Space

Still around-really, I am!

2026-05-09T13:37:00.001-05:00

Just my biennial post saying I'm still around! (even though it's really been 3 years. LOL 😉) I always seem to have plans for this blog, but never get around to posting-not like I used to.

Just an FYI- I'll be helping run Artemis at the following conventions this year:

Origins

The Cleveland Gaming Classic

And of course, you'll see me at a few Italian Band gigs this summer-most notably The Feast of the Assumption!

No Pedal to the Point for me this year-a dear friend is getting married on the day of the ride. However, I'm still training with the team and will be back next year! I did the Cleveland MS Walk last weekend instead-it was a chilly walk! 😅

That's all for now-based on my "current" posting history trend, hopefully it won't be another 4 years before I post again! 😏

Random post-yes, I"m still here!

2023-05-16T01:41:00.003-05:00

2 years...new record between posts?

This is just a quick post to say, yes, I'm still here, but I'm still not sure exactly what I am going to do with this blog...

Lots of things coming up-Artemis Bridge party, Marcon 58, Origins, plus I have a race coming up the first weekend in June (Race for the Place).

Here's a random photo of the last board game I played:

(Planetarium)

Oh, and yes, Countdown Owlie is once again counting down the days until the next total solar eclipse hits the U.S.! (see my Instagram for all his adventures!)

Until next time!

Tap, Tap, Is this thing on?!

2021-04-21T22:01:00.002-05:00

Once again, I've neglected this blog. A lot has happened since 2018. A LOT. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with this space, but I'll think of something. I originally thought I would start blogging again during the pandemic-but as you can see, that never happened (although since we're still in it, I guess it's not too late to start. 😉)

I used to be quite the blogger-I was looking at some of my first posts and I had these long, great entries. Then the entries became shorter and shorter, until I just stopped. I don't really know why-laziness perhaps? I was attending a virtual book launch party for my friend Marie Vibbert and one of the other attendee's asked if she was the only non-writer. I assured her she wasn't, as I also am not a writer. One thing led to another and I started talking about my blog and what I had originally intended for it (I think I was going to talk about my trading card ~~addiction~~ hobby. 😂), and that I just sort of stopped writing in it. (You think this is bad, you should see my written journal!).

Anyway, I'm still here! Until next time!

The 2018 Perseids

2018-08-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I spent Saturday night to Sunday morning at Observatory Park for the Perseid meteor shower! This was my third Perseid overnighter at OP. I set up just before 8pm Saturday night and my friend Jynjyr joined us for a night of counting meteors. I started officially counting around 9:30 pm and finished up around 6 am. (woo!)

Total count for the night: 70. My record is still 201. The weather wasn't perfect-the humidity was in the 90s, and it was on again off again clouds. Also-lightning from Canada-I kid you not! CANADA. We started noticing lightning flashes around 11 pm-they were bright enough to wreck havoc with our night vision. I kept checking the radar and there was a fairly large storm cell around London, Ontario-but nothing on the U.S. side. It was quite fascinating (and annoying-as I mentioned before-it messed with our night vision).

I was hoping to get some decent meteor shots-and was really excited-this was my first Perseid shower (although not my first meteor shower) at Observatory Park since purchasing a new wide-angle lens (14mm) for my Pentax DSLR last year. Unfortunately the clouds and humidity it seemed to be more of a hassle and I quickly abandoned taking photos and just concentrated on counting meteors. Maybe next time!

It's been a while since I posted photos-ever since Picasa was discontinued, I have been hesitant to use Google photos on my blogs (actually, I've been lazy to set it up.) It's about time I start posting photos again, so I'll use my first (and so far, only) image of a Perseid that I captured in 2015:

A Perseid and the Pleiades : August 13th, 2015

Nite all!

Cosplay Crafing Craziness

2018-05-07T21:39:00.000-05:00

It's that crazy time of year again! Con Season! Once again my place is littered with little bits and bobs and scraps of material as I try to get my costumes together for Marcon.

This year there's less scraps of material and more bits and bobs as I attempt to make jewelry for my Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff cosplay. I'm basing it off of her appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron, although truth be told, my hair will look more like hers from Infinity War. 😉 I'm extremely proud of the fact that I was able to make quite a bit of her pieces with items I already had in my stash-but I did have to purchase a few more things. In terms of the rest of her outfit, I'm using items I already have here at home-black skirt and sleeveless t-shirt, my black riding boots. I ended up purchasing a maroon blazer to complete the outfit-it's not exact, but I'm hoping it's a decent enough representation of the character.

Scarlet Witch is my main cosplay for the weekend-as I'm going to be her for the Super Match Game at Marcon this year. Other costumes I will be wearing:

Friday: Dana Scully (updated from when I was her during our Halloween show in marching band my Sophomore year of college)

Saturday: Scarlet Witch (probably most of the day), General Leia (Saturday night)

Sunday: The Fourth Doctor- probably on Sunday-I was really hoping to squeeze him in on Saturday, but between the panels I'm in and the panels I want to attend, I really don't think I'll have the time on Saturday. I was also hoping to fit in Sarah Jane Smith from The Sarah Jane Adventures, on Sunday but if I can't fit Four on Saturday, he'll be moved to Sunday. Since this is the last year Marcon will be at the Hyatt, people are encouraged to wear costumes from previous years. Since Four was the first cosplay I ever attempted for Marcon, I have to do that! (and yes, Krismutt as K-9 will be with me! LOL)

Gotta get back to my cosplay crafting! Only 4 more days until Marcon!

A New Look, a New Life

2018-03-20T20:44:00.000-05:00

Well, alrighty then! I really needed to upgrade my blog. Not sure how I like the new layout, but we'll see if it grows on me. I feel really bad that I've neglected this blog for so long. I keep thinking about things to post about-the problem is I'm never near a computer when I think of things. By the time I get home, I'm just to lazy to post. HA. I miss my old theme, but it hasn't been compatible with Blogger's fancy features for years. Since the server I was using to house my template (and most of my graphics and photos) no longer exists, I figured it was time to upgrade. I need to gather and repost my links-maybe I'll add a page for them, rather than putting them back on the side bar, like before...

It's the beginning of -Con season! (-Con season for me is March-June) Last year I attended 4 cons- ConCoction in March, Armada in April, Marcon in May, and Origins in June. This year I had to skip ConCoction, but the rest are still in my schedule! I'm working on three new and one updated cosplays for Marcon this year-I'll try to post my progress here. That reminds me, since picasa is defunct, I need to find a new place to house my photos online. Wow, I've REALLY neglected this blog!

Cosplays I'm currently working on:

Scarlet Witch

Captain Janeway

Lt. Torres

Scully (updating)

A few first's from 2017:

I witnessed my first total solar eclipse!!! My god-that was an AMAZING experience! I really need to post about it. I'm pretty sure the lens I used to capture it was the same that my Dad used in 1979. :-) My friends and I drove down to Nashville, TN for the eclipse. The next total eclipse in the U.S. is only 2211 days away! And Cleveland is in the path of totality! (if I stay in my backyard, I'll experience a whopping 3 min, 46 secs of totality!)

I worked on my first political campaign. Settle down, people-it was a local election! Mayor of University Heights-I helped with the lit drops, and was invited to the watch party on election night-it was a lot of fun, and I think I met more neighbors in my city during the last six months than I did over the last 9 years I've lived here. LOL. I love my little city. Hard to believe way back when I was looking for my first apartment, I wouldn't even consider anything around Lee Road, let alone past Lee-I thought it was too far from work! HA!

Ran my first 5K! Back in October I casually mentioned to my friend Tina that I was thinking about attempting the Couch to 5K program. She got really excited and encouraged me to do it, so we could run the Christmas Story Run in December! My original goal was to be Not Last- not only was I Not Last (I was in the middle of the pact), but I ran it in under an hour!! Woo! Definitely want to run it again next year, and I'm looking for another 5K to run in the meantime (2 5Ks a year seem reasonable. LOL) I've been thinking about attempting the Caveman Crawl in Geauga County in June. We shall see!

Gotta run-here's hoping my next post won't be two years from now...

Over a year, but I'm still here!

2016-07-19T14:03:00.002-05:00

Well, it was more than 8 months since I last posted! Ha.

I've been debating about the direction I want to take this blog-I really do want to continue blogging-I'm just not sure what I want to talk about. Originally when I started this blog back in 2003, I was going to post more about my trading card hobby and my collection. I never really did that-only a few posts here and there. Nowadays my collecting of trading cards is limited to free promos-trading cards can be an expensive hobby!

I've been more active in two other hobbies I love: astronomy and photography! However it would be easier to do the things I would like to do with this blog if I upgraded my blog. The only problem is the current template I am using is not compatible with the upgraded system, and I'm still rather attached to the way my blog currently looks (yes, I know-it's only the second template update, and it's been this way since near the beginning! I can't help it...) So we'll see.

'Til next time!

Happy Everything!

2015-04-07T00:07:00.000-05:00

Whoa! Haven't posted here since September! YIKEs! I hope everyone (who celebrates these) had a Happy Easter...and Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines, St. Patrick... :-D

Life's been busy-but I do manage to post to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. ;-)

Things are going to be busy on the Convention front-I just realized I will be attending at least one convention for the next three months! It almost was 4 months, but I had to skip Cleveland ConCoction this year. :-(

I'll be heading out to the Artemis Armada One convention this weekend, then Marcon in May, and Origins in June. I'm trying to work on a costume for Marcon-it's going to be a major sewing project for me. My friend Julie helped me with a mock-up, and now I need to create a new pattern from it. Wish me luck!

I also am embarking on some major organization projects. I've been meaning to bring up my trading card boxes from the basement for a while now, but I've had no place to put them-so I finally purchased a new bookcase for them. And since I also have several piles of books that have no homes yet, I purchased a second, smaller bookcase. My dvds have been stored on a shelf made of smaller, dvd-sized Amazon shipping boxes from work, so yes, I also have a new dvd/media shelf that needs to be put together. The dvd shelf will be the easiest to get set up, followed by the smaller bookcase (I've already cleared some space for that). The biggest challenge will be the bigger bookcase, as I have some reorganization to do which includes moving a typing table from the dining room to the basement. Whee!

That's all for now-hopefully it won't be another 8 months in-before I post again! ;-)

International Observe the Moon Night

2014-09-05T23:29:00.001-05:00

I am not hear to complain about the media's fascination with the "Super Moon"-I think I've tweeting and posted to Facebook enough about that-instead, I'm hear to put my money where my mouth is (is that the right saying?) and to tell you to go check out the moon tomorrow night! :)

Saturday, September 6th has been designated International Observe the Moon Night!

InOMN is the brainchild of several "Moon Units" (the Lunar Science Institute, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to name a few). The idea is to generate interest in observing and studying the moon.

How to participate? It's easy! Just go out on the night of the 6th and look up! :) You can also join an event, OR create one for the public for yourself! (unfortunately the only event close enough to Cleveland is Hiram College. Perhaps next year we can suggest to the folks at Observatory Park to create an event of their own!) ;) (update: although they don't have anything planned for InOMN, they do have an event planned for the Harvest Moon-check out the event page from Geauga Park's site.)

For more information about InOMN, check out the article on Sky and Telescope.

Speaking of Sky and Telescope, be sure to check out This Week's Sky at a Glance for more cool things to look at in the night sky!

(images courteous of Sky and Telescope).

Happy viewing!

The Camelopardalids!

2014-05-22T23:05:00.003-05:00

In the wee hours on Saturday, May 24th, a new meteor shower, the Camelopardalids will make it's presence known!

(Image courtesy of Sky and Telescope)

This will be the first known time that Earth will pass through the debris left behind by Comet LINEAR. (I say known because there is very little evidence of that the "Cams" have made an appearance before). The best part is experts believe that we will be plowing through a relatively dense field of debris, with the potential of the Cams becoming a meteor storm!

The peak of this shower is predicted to be around 3am, EST. If you are in Northeast Ohio and are looking for a place to view meteors, Observatory Park in Geauga County will be open all night long for stargazers!

Camelopardalis is a very faint constellation. Chris Mentrek, Astronomy Naturalist at Observatory Park suggests looking just to the right of the Big Dipper and just below Polaris, the North Star.

Even more good news-the weather looks like it might actually cooperate for us here in Ohio!

(Image courtesy of AccuWeather.com)

After being disappointed with cloudy weather for all the major meteor showers in the past year, AND cloudy weather for the Total Lunar Eclipse last month, I am really looking forward to this shower!! :) I plan on taking my camera along to try to photograph some meteors. Unfortunately I don't have a wide-angle lens, but I'm still hoping to capture something!

And now, some linkage! :
Ready for May's Surprise Meteor Shower? (Sky and Telescope)

How to Photograph a Meteor (Sky and Telescope)

New Meteor "Storm" Predicted (Geauga Park District)

Never Before Meteor Shower to Ignite Across the Skies: Where to See It (AccuWeather)

Clear skies and happy viewing!!!

Free Comic Book Day!!!! (and other fun stuff!)

2014-05-02T22:53:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am still around! ;)

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!!! To see if there is a participating store near you, check out their store locator .

In addition to grabbing some free comics, I'm also on the hunt for a few older ones. I recently started reading the Farscape comics-set at the end of The PeaceKeeper Wars, these comics follow the story line of the cancelled season 5, and are considered canon by the Jim Henson Company! There were 24 issues over a 2 year run, and the first 16 were compiled into 7 paperback volumes. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that the last 8 were ever made into single volumes-so I am on a search for issues 17-24. (I own the first volume containing the first 4 issues, and the library has the next 6 ). I'm really enjoying the comics-they remain true to the tv show, and are written by Rockne S. O'Bannon. :)

I'm also on the hunt for some trading card supplies-I need more 4-card protector sheets for my promo cards! :) I also purchased my first base set in quite a long while-I'm not sure I have enough 9-card page protectors!

In other news-I'm finally returning to Marcon after a 2 year hiatus! I'm so exicted!!! When Marcon moved to Easter weekend, I was really bummed because I couldn't attend. They recently moved it back to May (Mother's Day weekend), which is a lot more doable than Easter! (I can call my mom from anywhere!) :)

Last but not least-the Wild push past the Avalanche to make it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!!!! Tonight they are playing the Chicago Blackhawks. GO WILD!!!!!!!!!!!!

DWFO #8: The 50th Anniversary Suite

2013-12-30T00:37:00.000-05:00

Happy 50th Doctor Who!!!!!!

2013-11-23T03:01:00.000-05:00

It's here!! It's here!!!! The 50th Anniversary of my most favorite television program on Earth! Happy 50th Doctor Who!!!

I've been watching Doctor Who since I've been a tiny little thing. My first episode was The Time Warrior. Since I was so young, I didn't remember much of the story until almost two decades later when I finally got my hands on a VHS copy. (Yes you youngin's, BEFORE dvd/blu-ray players!) ;) The thing I remembered most from the episode was when the Third Doctor first met Sarah Jane. She had just walked into the room she was sharing with the Doctor and Prof. Rubish and tried to pull off pretending to be her Aunt Lavinia. (of course the Doctor saw right through that!) ;)

Doctor Who was a family affair in our household. Our local PBS station in Minneapolis, KTCA (now TPT, I think...) aired Doctor Who on Friday and Saturday nights-although they did try a little bit of everything, it seemed. Friday and Saturday were "newer" episodes-starting with Tom Baker's first episode, Robot. (before Doctor Who was syndicated by PBS and Lionheart Entertainment, different networks attempted to air Doctor Who at different times-in Minneapolis, Jon Pertwee's last season was shown on ABC (channel 5.)) We'd gather around the television at 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Sometimes my Dad would bring home A&W Rootbeer and Tostinos pizza as a special treat during Doctor Who. When Trial of a Timelord aired during pledge season, I remember we had several family friends over to watch, and I think we made tacos!

By the mid-eighties, KTCA started airing William Hartnell's episodes Saturday mornings. While most children were watching Saturday morning cartoons, I was watching Doctor Who!

I missed Doctor Who when it went off the air, and was excited about the 1996 tv movie (even though I was disappointed in it, I did grow to love Paul McGann's Doctor through his Big Finish audios.) When it was announced that Doctor Who would be returning to television in 2005, I was really excited (even though it took over a year to come back to the U.S.). And, I have to admit it, I was more excited that Elisabeth Sladen was returning as Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion than I was that it was coming back to television. (can you blame me? I had a huge grin on my face for days after I saw her episode.) :-D

I laugh at newbies who swear up and down that they'll never watch the show again when they learn the Doctor will be regenerating into someone new. They'll get over it. I was sad when Three became Four, and cried like a baby when Four became Five, but I eventually recovered each time. :) I've enjoyed all the Doctors-I have my favorites, like some more than others-but I love 'em all-quirkiness and all!

Doctor Who's been around for 50 years-and I've been watching for well over half that time-I hope to be watching it for many more!! Allons-y!

Geronimo!

Fantastic!

There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish, sometimes.

Celebrating 50 years!

2013-11-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

Thursday I was sitting at work, when my coworker Nora, herself a Whovian, came up to me and asked me if I knew about the Art Bites tour at the Cleveland Museum of Art (Art Bites are 30 minute gallery tours during the lunch hour) This week's topic? Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey! Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who by taking a tour of galleries of places that the Doctor and his companions visited. Well, duh! Of course I was in! Fellow Whovian Elanor joined us, too! The woman giving the tour was obviously a big Whovian herself (well, of course she was-she came up with the idea for this Art Bite. ;) ).

The stories represented were The Romans, The Wedding of River Song, A Good Man Goes to War, The Girl in the Fireplace (the museum has the most beautiful rug on display-hard to believe it's from Louis XV's dining room!), and Vincent and the Doctor. It was a really awesome tour that went by really fast (and reminded me that I really should take advantage of the fact that I work right next to one of the few art museums in the country that offer free admission!) At the end of the tour they had a drawing for two tickets to the 3D showing of The Day of the Doctor on Monday in Valley View-and Nora won them! Congrats, Nora!

Art Bites: Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey

Check out celeb Whovians wishing Doctor Who a Happy 50th! Love that Edward James Olmos was one of the celebs! ;)

Happy 50th from Celeb Whovians

The Doctor Who Appreciation Society ran a favorites poll, and Tom Baker was voted favorite Doctor, and Elisabeth Sladen favorite companion. (Something I agree with wholeheartedly!) It's awesome to see that Sarah Jane Smith is still topping the favorite companion polls, and it's all due to the awesomeness that was Elisabeth Sladen. Check out the other favorites:

Faves from DWAS

A new prequel mini-sode was released! Check out The Last Day:

Less than 24 hours until The Day of the Doctor!!!!!!! :-D

Top 10 Favorite Doctor Who Companions

2013-11-20T14:26:00.002-05:00

Three days until the 50th Anniversary!!!! Fun fact-Three was my first Doctor! The first episode I remember watching as a child was The Time Warrior with Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen's first appearance as Sarah Jane Smith. They say your first companion is always your favorite-not sure how true it is, but in my case, it certainly is!!!! She was like the older sister I never had.

Speaking of favorite companions, the folks at BBC America's Anglophenia blog have come up with top favorite lists to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. Check out their companion list!
10 Favorite Companions

...obviously, I totally agree with No. 1 on their list. ;)

I also have to agree with No. 2-I love Donna Noble-I felt as though she was the Sarah Jane Smith of the "New Who" era. :)

I pretty much agree with the entire list- (yes, even though Rose is on the list-I had no problem with her during her tenure with 9-I just felt that with 10 she got to whiny and needed. However, she was the perfect companion to bring in the new era) I might rearrange the order a bit (the Brig certainly would be higher up on my list!) and I would try to find a way to squeeze in Jo Grant, Liz Shaw, Barbara Wright, and Rory Williams. But then it would no longer be a top 10 list would it? ;)

#SaveTheDay #DW50

4 Days and counting!!!!

2013-11-19T13:26:00.002-05:00

4 days until the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!!!!! Here is a great post from BBC America's Anglophenia blog filled with all sorts of video clips and information about the 50th anniversary, including the pre-show before The Day of the Doctor!!! :-D

Countdown to the Day of the Doctor

Enjoy!!!

#SaveTheDay

Doctor Who 50th!

2013-11-16T14:52:00.001-05:00

The 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who is only a week away!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! I've been watching the show since I was 2 and a half-years old!

There is so much I could say, but for now, I'll let these videos do the talking. :-D

Trailer for The Day of the Doctor

I see some serious 'sonic' envy happening in this trailer-do you? LOL.

Prequel Mini-sode, Night of the Doctor
Just a link to it, for those who don't want to be completely spoiled. ;)

Doctor Who Children in Need special, the Day of the Doctor:

Preview for the Doctor Who biopic, An Adventure in Space and Time

Are you as excited as I am?!?!?!?!?!?!?! :-D

Haunted Cleveland

2013-10-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

It's October!!! HALLOWEEN!!! Here's hoping the weather holds out for my godson's first hayride tomorrow night. :)

If you're in the mood for something spooky, then check out this list of Cleveland's most haunted places!

(Special thanks to http://blog.rightturn.com for the graphic!)

Happy Haunting!

Book review-Vader's Little Princess

2013-08-05T13:07:00.001-05:00

Vader's Little Princess by Jeffrey Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book on display in the graphic novels section of our library’s CPL leisure collection. Although I had basically given up reading any Star Wars alternate universe books long ago, I still have a soft spot for comics and this was just too cute to pass up. I mean seriously-the cover has Darth Vader having a tea party with a tiny Princess Leia and her stuffed Ewok. I couldn’t help but giggle. I soon found out that this is a sequel of sorts to another book, Darth Vader and Son. Although I haven’t read the first one yet, I really don’t think you need to, unless you’re really anal about it…

If you are looking for a ‘what might have been’ type comic, then move on. This is by no means that-and it’s not supposed to be. It’s a humorous, fun little read. I mean, do you really think someone as big and mean as Darth Vader would take time out of his very busy day of taking over the universe to have a tea party with his daughter, or allow her to cut heart shapes out of his cape without punishing her?

There are some familiar lines and scenes from the original trilogy mixed in with original ideas to weave a story that shows that even big ‘ole mean Darth Vader can’t figure out how to wrangle a little girl. Despite the trials and tribulations of raising a girl into a grown woman, he’ll always have a soft spot for his ‘Little Princess’.

View all my reviews

what to do w/this blog!!! (another attempt at a re-do?)

2013-06-26T23:52:00.003-05:00

So once again I've been thinking about what to do w/this blog. I keep saying I'm going to update and post more, but I never get around to it...

One thing I finally did was update my sidebar...sort of. I got rid of a few sites that no longer update or are completely defunct (yes, there are a couple that are still listed...I'll eventually delete those. And boo! Yahoo Avatars no longer exist) I moved a few things around (not sure why there is such a large gap between my twitter feed and my get glue stickers...) I may eventually move more things around, but that will come later. And even though The Peacekeeper Wars aired several years ago, I'm keeping the banner up because I love Farscape! (same goes for the Doctor Who banner announcing it's return to America on SciFi-even though SciFi is now SyFy and Doctor Who is now exclusively on BBCA, it's still history...) ;)

One of the main reasons why I haven't "upgraded" my blog template is simply because I really like my current blog template-and if I upgrade my blogger template to get all the fancy settings/widgets and what-not, my current template is incompatible. I really like this template-I think it suits me perfectly. However, I am open to ideas, so if folks have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.

I'm thinking I'm going to steer my blog into the direction of writing up my thoughts on geeky/nerdy/sports/hobbies type stuff. Movie/tv/book reviews (even though I am terrible at writing up reviews, so they'll be more like whatever pops into my head.) I may post some personal stuff here, but I won't be airing any dirty laundry (not that I did before). I don't want this to become a daily log of my life...I have a written journal for that (one that I happen to update infrequently-just like this blog!)

So there you have it! The reboot is officially starting! Wish me luck! :-D

Windhaven

2013-01-24T12:24:00.000-05:00

Been a while since I posted a review, so here's one!! :-) Windhaven by Lisa Tuttle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Decided to read one of GMMR's earlier novels-and was not disappointed! Since I am terrible at writing reviews, I'll just make this simple-I enjoyed reading about Maris and the flyers, the landsmen, and the singers.

Windhaven is a collection of previously published short stories following the life of Maris, the daughter of a fisherman who becomes a flyer. Because a flyer's wings are inherited, Maris must challenge this tradition, and leads the way to changing the law so that a person is given wings based on merit, rather than heritage. Of course, young Maris is quite naive and doesn't fully understand the implications of challenging and changing the status quo, and we see her face and deal with the consequences as her story goes on.

For those who are only familiar with GMMR's A Song of Ice and Fire saga, this story (co-authored with Lisa Tuttle) is no where near as violent. A nice "light" read. :)

View all my reviews

The Jammed Lens Saga

2012-09-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

Last night I was working on a craft project, waiting for the paint to dry when I decided I’d run outside and take a picture of the Harvest Moon. I went out to my back porch, saw the moon and the clouds heading my way, then ran back in to collect my Pentax camera, tripod, and my telephoto lens, figuring I had enough time to get at least a couple of shots before the clouds took over. I took off my 55mm lens and attached the telephoto lens when I realized something was really wrong: Normally when you attached a lens, you turn it about 90 degrees before it locks into place…I had already turned it about 270 and it had not locked into place…

Crap.

I tried to remove the lens and my worst fears were realized: the lens had jammed.

@#$%$!!!

I tried wiggling the lens, but to no avail. The little button you press to release the lens was stuck as well-I could move it about 90 degrees and it would pop back up, but no matter how hard I tried, the lens would not come off.

After some more wiggling[struggling], I managed to unscrew the lens from the mount. *whew* That was my father’s lens-quite possibly as old as me…damage to the lens would have been devastating to me. After removing the lens, I struggled a bit more, then decided to remove the inner ring on the mount. It didn’t really help so I turned to Google…

Ever try Googling ‘stuck Pentax lens?’ 100% of your results will be about someone attempting to attach an older Ricoh lens to a Pentax body. Yes, my lens is older-but it has a K-mount and has successfully been attached to my K2000-I’ve got dozens of Moon (and Sun!) pictures to prove it.

After combing through various accounts and scaring myself with stories involving wrenches, hammers and hacksaws (yes, HACKSAWS), I found a link to the Pentax forums. The particular thread I found did involve a Ricoh lens, but I decided to run a search in the forums for jammed lenses. The results were more diverse and I discovered someone who had a jammed 400mm Ashanti Pentax lens. Turns out I wasn’t the only one who had this problem… You know the little orange dots that help you align your lens to remove them? Normally that should be pointing at the top of the camera-for him it was pointing down. I did a quick check on my lens mount…yep-there was the orange dot-180 degrees from where it should be.

Blah.

He had done the same things I had done-removed the lens from the mount and the inner ring-but none of those actions helped the situation. He ended up putting the lens back on the mount for a little extra leverage, and after 10 hours of turning and wiggling the lens, it finally popped out.

Yikes.

Since it was already late, I decided I would work on it after church in the morning. While I was waiting for Perseph and Stormy to pick me up for church I decided to try working on the mount before reattaching the lens. Nope-didn’t happen. After church I reattached the inner ring of the mount and the lens and began to turn and wiggle the lens like the poster in the forum had.

After struggling for about 20 minutes, it finally popped out.

I just about cried-I was so relieved!!!

A quick check of the lens and a few test shots with my 55mm on my camera revealed that there was no major damage-yay!!!!

Then five hours later I nearly cried again-the Pack won by one point!!!

Come on, it’s Sunday during football season-you didn’t think I’d do an entire post without mentioning football at least once did you? ;)

Checking in!

2012-08-31T00:14:00.001-05:00

Just checking in! Honestly, I really do want to post more. Now if I can just find the time. ;)

I've got so much to talk about-a weekend trip to Minnesota, the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra, Italian Band, my adventures with my new camera, work, life in general. The last two weekends have been really busy for me. First there was the Feast of the Assumption, then I did a quick weekend trip to Minnesota... Yeah, I know-Ohio to Minnesota-not really 'quick weekend trip' material, but it had been so long since I had been back, anything was better than nothing! ;) This weekend is the St. Rocco's Festival, and next weekend is our Tippit Reunion. Hmmm...not much sleep is in my forecast! LOL. It's a good thing I got my DWFO submission in for The Impossible Astronaut Suite. It's not due until the 7th of September, but if I hadn't finished it before the Feast, I doubt I would have been able to contribute to this one!

Well, that's about it for my check-in. LOL. I just want to say that it was really great seeing everyone in MN this past weekend!! I know I missed alot of folks, so hopefully I'll be able to see you next time I'm in town! The Megabus trip from Cleveland to Minneapolis and back wasn't too bad-so I'll definitely consider them again!

Craft Challenge: The $5 Challenge (sponsored by Dollar Tree)

2012-06-26T00:10:00.001-05:00

OMG!!!! A co-worker of mine told me about this blog-I haven't been following Dollar Store Crafts for very long, but I love them! Check out this awesome contest they are holding!!!!

Craft Challenge: The $5 Challenge (sponsored by Dollar Tree):

That's right DSC readers, it's time for another challenge, with another $100 gift card prize generously provided by Dollar Tree! This month, rather than picking a specific theme, we're doing something a little different: The Five Dollar Challenge! Start crafting now, and come back to enter on July 1st.

USB Desk Lamp by Rebecca Made It

Dollar store crafting is not only about creativity, it's about big ideas on a small budget. You might be surprised at just how far $5 can get you! Take, for example, this USB desk lamp by Rebecca Made It. Can you identify all of the dollar store parts she used?
(Of course, we always encourage the use of stash items, so you don't need to count on-hand items in your total. It's safe to assume that every crafter has glue, tape, paint, and scrap fabric laying around, right?)
Here are the challenge rules:
1. Post your project on your blog, or as a post in the "Community" Section on Dollar Store Crafts. A photo of your project is required, as well as a list of materials used, which shall total no more than $5. Supplies such as glue, tape, paint, and no more than 25% worth of stash supplies are allowed.
2. Submit a link to your project using the linky submission that will at the bottom of the contest entry post.
Dates: July 1st, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT). Linky Party closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on July 6th, 2012.
Multiple entries by the same person are accepted, however, only one prize will be awarded.
Eligibility: Residents of the USA, 18 and older
Winner Selection: There will be 1 Winner, chosen by a team of 3 judges who include 2 members of the Dollar Store Crafts staff, and one independent person with expertise in the area of crafting. Entries will be judged on the basis of the following criteria: originality, usefulness, creativity, clarity of instructions, and availability of materials at dollar stores.
Prize: $100 gift card to Dollar Tree.

More from Me: Ooooh, I'd love to do this challenge-I love the Dollar Tree!!! Dunno if I'll have time this time around, but if I don't, I hope they'll do another one! It's too bad I didn't know about this site when I made my Packer Claus last Christmas! ;) (actually, I don't think my Packer Claus would qualify. All the paint I used came from my paint stash-green, yellow, white, glitter and the glaze-that's more than 25%!) ;)

Promo for The Impossible Astronaut Suite

2012-06-20T00:51:00.001-05:00

Wow-due to the unprecedented interest in the Impossible Astronaut Suite, they have to limit the number of applicants to the first 600!!! Better hurry! ;)