All I wanted to do last night was just curl up in a ball.

I'd just realised that I was now about the same age as poor old John Crichton had been when he died back in 2002, his life totally unfulfilled. Earlier yesterday I'd helped my next door neighbour out - she'd had some sort of a stroke, and she was worse off than I was. It was heartbreaking to see her being so frail, and so afraid. Her kids, now grown ups, had so many more important things to do than to listen to her.

I missed my bus as she talked to me. I deliberately missed my bus (and she didn't notice), so she could talk to me. So that she could have a few minutes of someone to chat to. (Though, truth be told, I didn't actually let is be known that I was almost as much in need of a bit of human conversation as she was).

I'd had a shakeup this last week, and I really wasn't in the best of spirits. Can't say I'm much better, but I've seen some light, and I'm climbing back up again.

Because as much as I need, I'm needed.

It's 18 degrees in my computer room right now. I have Dark Heresy game tonight in the Queensland equivalent of a basement - the walled off bits under a house on stilts. It'll be as cold as a witch's nipple down there, so I've rugged up. I also aquired a new vest, so I went for a Victoriana-steamy sort of outfit. Illustrated below, for everyone else freezing to death at the moment, in light of our recent run of "Halp! Teh weather is molesting me!" posts.

( And now, for the bad photography! )

At a family reunion for my husband's family, I recently performed my standard survival maneuver: dive into safe topics (like genealogy and family history) to avoid tempestuous ones (like religion and politics). And so I spent something like 20 hours scanning old photos. I especially liked the skirt in the image below, and thought the outfit might serve as a bit of inspiration for those who want a historical flair without a corset. Yes, it's probably later than steam's "Golden Age", but what's a decade or two between friends?

My husband's great great aunt, "Aunt Erle," is the woman in the white hat. My guess is that this photo might be from around 1915, but I could be completely wrong. I really love her skirt, especially the straps that connect to the front panel. If anyone has a guess as to how to sew something like this skirt (or a closer guess as to the year), I'm all ears.

Click on the photo for a link to a larger version.

Making jewelry, I'm finding, is a lot like baking cakes for a living. You get to keep the ones that don't quite work out, and some of them you end up liking quite a bit. For example:

(1) This brooch. I've been working on it for a little more than a week, and I think it's awesome. Unfortunately, an adhesive malfunction (and my ham-handed attempts to fix it) ended up ruining the patina on the brass in a few places. It's nothing one would think twice about if they saw the brooch on someone else, but if someone were to buy it and examine it closely, they'd probably be pissed.

Instead, I'm going to hang on to it (yay!) and probably use it in my costume if/when I attend Steam Powered. Right now I'm toying with the idea of getting all of my ducks in a row and attending as a vendor. I'm also thinking it might be a kick to make it a road trip with my dad, who I think has been nursing a secret ambition to get back into crafting hisowndarnself.




(2) These earrings. There's an identical pair on my Etsy site, but this particular pair bears the mark of a losing battle with a drill bit on the reverse side. More cake for me!



********

And now for the ones that did work out, and which are for sale. Come on, you knew you couldn't get away without an advert =)

Buy at Faraday Bags at Etsy.

Tiny Little Gearrings	More tiny little gearrings
Bobby pins with dragonflies and freshwater pearls	An elephant hunter's monocle

They're even better here.

Good God.

I now need to find a warm rock to curl up on and digest for the next month.

Also, Brazilian Guarana soda beats ginger ale. With a stick.

And the caprinhia is most emphatically not for amateurs.

http://community.livejournal.com/victorianera/144490.html

I love the red dress in the last shot..


and a very very nice mens coat

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-MENS-BLACK-VELVET-FROCK-COAT-GOTH-VAMPIRE-LARP_W0QQitemZ130234513279QQihZ003QQcategoryZ1059QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Some one who is not me grab it up!

Of course I don't own much clothing that isn't black, but I still had to mow the lawn and use the weed wacker. So, it was S.W.AT. black BDU's and an Evengelion shirt with combat boots. It came in handy with the freakish weed things that looked like lettuce meets Day of the Triffids.

And... if you need a score of choice sliced scallions, let me know!

I feel like utter shite again tonight.

I can't shake off the feeling that I'm missing something; that, somehow, I've made a mistake that even now lies uncorrected somewhere.

There are whole weeks when I feel that I've pissed off someone, only I have no idea whom. I can't even say sorry, because I have no idea to whom I should speak.

I feel like I've lost something, and I'm the only one who lost it. Not stolen, just left behind somewhere. Like that time when I lost my camera, only that was real.

You'll all have to excuse me if I don't post too frequently for a time. Only when I feel like saying something.

Well, it's earlier than I usually start working on this, but I'm kinda fried from writing Mage: Eww! Put it Back! all day, and I'd like to take my daughter to the playground.

She is, however, napping at present, and as any dad out there knows, you don't disturb the nap.

That in mind, I'll do today's chargen, and then go to the park. Which is appropriate, because today's game is:


The Game: Little Fears
The publisher: Key 20, originally.
Degree of familiarity: Some. I read it and ran a one-shot back in Atlanta, but I haven't played it or done anything with it since. In fact, I've studiously avoided reading it for about a year now because of my work on World of Darkness: Innocents.
Books required: Just the Little Fears book.

( On we go. )
OK, good to go. I'm not going to have much time tomorrow, so if I do a character, it'll be for a really short system. Making really short characters. Short-lived characters.

Say it with me, people.

ALL HAIL KING TORG!

I am here. I am alive, albeit a little tired - redeyes and me don't entirely agree, even if the redeye is north-south.

Sao Paulo feels like a combination of Shanghai, LA, and the Bronx, and I mean that in a good way. From above, it's a maze of red tile roofs. From street level, it feels like people are living in it, as opposed wanting to be seen in it (LA) or hustling their way to the top of it (Shanghai).

I have learned some Portuguese today. My new vocabulary includes the words for hello, goodbye, fire, watermelon, and "holy crap." I've offered to trade my rudimentary Finnish profanity for some of the more interesting Brasilian stuff.

My hosts from Devir are, to a person, charming, thoughtful, solicitous, and generous. I got the tour of Devir's offices today, then did a series of interviews (print and TV, yes, TV) from their store. The store, incidentally, is what a FLGS should be - spacious, clean, with product well-displayed and room for gaming. Also, they have comics. Sign me up.

They built a titanic Wall Of Rich Dansky behind the interview stand. I had a moment of being boggled. Actually, several, before the "Wait, I did write all that" kicked in. That didn't stop me from being hugely amused when I found a copy of Chosen of the Sun in their bargain bin, however :-)

I've had one nerdoid moment so far: looking out the window of the plane as the sun came up over the jungle and thinking "HOLY CRAP! IT'S THE FREAKING AMAZON JUNGLE! HOW COOL IS THAT?"

The interviews have been fun, though I may need to dig deep to continue providing fresh anecdotes. The lineup for tomorrow is formidable, and I've already mentioned the time Melinda got a snake dropped in her lap while playing Eternal Darkness and the Jersey Far Cry Mook Fan Club.

Got the guided tour of the convention site, which is a century-old parochial school downtown. (Who am I kidding? It's all downtown.) The site is gorgeous, and I got to see, among other things, the 100 RPG tables that have been set up, the theater where I'll be doing my talks, and the booth they have set up for my signings. There are big banners with my name on them everywhere, too. I feel...well, part of me feels humbled. Part of me is thinking "It didn't feel like that much at the time." And part of me is going, "Huh." In any case, I'm just hoping not to disappoint, though I confess to feeling very good about my RPG worldbuilding talk. For whatever it's worth, I've already told my translator (who is very disappointed that I am not Italian - that seems to be a running theme here) to hit me if I catch a case of New York and start talking too fast. I expect to get pummeled mercilessly.

Incidentally, the traffic cops here dress like NASCAR drivers. The city devours a million pizzas a day, according to the Sao Paulo information channel that's on in the hotel lobby. And this evening, when my hosts dropped me off for a nap (which I will be taking shortly) there was a total of 135 kilometers' worth of traffic jams in the city. That, incidentally, wasn't even close to the record.

Tonight: a nap, and then dinner at a Brazilian BBQ joint. My hosts are intrigued by my tales of pulled pork, but intent on proving that their 'cue rules the roost. I'm incline to let them.

And tomorrow, the madness begins in earnest.

For Americans, the Fourth of July is a day of special significance, as it has been throughout the relatively short history of the United States. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, during a very strong period of American patriotism and nationalism, American Independence Day was celebrated with great pomp and circumstance, even in areas that could not afford lavish displays. For Americans (in common with other nations that celebrated their own independence festivals), Independence Day was not about partying, drinks, food, or fireworks; it was a celebration of shared identity and history among countless people who would likely never meet, but who nevertheless regarded themselves as being part of a common community. Of course, along with this came politics, and with politics came speeches, arguments, and all manner of competing ideas, but these things marked the Fourth of July as a day of ideological significance to Americans; one which has in recent decades gradually shifted over to a good natured excuse to party.

What follows are a few images of the Fourth of July during America's age of steam. I hope when the time comes for other national holidays, our friends from other nations will do the same.

Yours, etc.,
G. D. Falksen




( And along we go... )

Guess who gets to see Great Big Sea in concert in Tucson in October?

MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEE!!!!

I have a question for you all. Can you think of any games that cross over within the various categories of games we sell. Games that are sold as part of one genre that contain distinct elements of another. For example; Once Upon a Time is a card game with a strong story telling element, Grey Ranks is an RPG with a board/grid. This question is very much part of my thinking at the moment, and while I already have a list myself I'd really be very grateful for your input.

Thanks,
Sean.

If you only watch one YouTube video this week, make it this one.

And therefore, the next Hunter playtest is open.

Spread the woid.

01) Bold what is true about you.
02) Underline what is half true.
03) Italicize what you wish was true about you.
04) Add one true thing about you to the end of the list.
05) Tag five LJ friends.
06) Ask me anything about the bold/italicized/underlined.

I TAG EVERYBODY. TAG TAG TAG.

( Read more... )

01) Bold what is true about you.
01a) Strikethrough what is utter bollocks, patently as untrue as it can be.
02) Underline what is half true.
03) Italicize what you wish was true about you.
04) Add one true thing about you to the end of the list.
05) Tag five LJ friends.
06) Ask me anything about the bold/italicized/underlined.

( Behind the cut )

No tagging. Just do what thou wilt.

We saw Wicked last night. It was amazing. We were completely blown away. Kerry Ellis (who played Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West) is an incredible singer and actress. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Now we're getting ready for our dinner cruise. Woo!