Skirts! . . . Well, a Skirt

I've been slowly teaching myself to sew since the summer. I've always known the basics, but I've been actually putting things together with and sometimes without patterns.

Last night I made a skirt with just to squares I found hiding out in my mother's closet of DOOM. This is where she keeps all her material, cook books, and anything that might be considered a craft supply.

Here's what I made:

As you can see it's a basic black and white print with flowers and a cute little boarder around it. It also has pockets! I thought that was a nifty addition. I have a few more squares and scrap material I plan to try this with.

I had decided my closet was severely lacking in skirts, and this corrected this little fact. I plan to wear it to class tomorrow with my new shoes that came two days early! 

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/shoes-heels/whisker-sweet-nothings-heel

These are the shoes. Aren't they most adorable things? I love them so much. They're a touch small as I went half a size down rather than up. I feared they'd fall off had I gotten a size 9. But I'll suffer gladly in order to wear these things.

Ugh, Not in the Mood...

It's been that sort of year... Not particularly in the mood for anything other than staring up at the ceiling blankly wishing I had reason to go outside. There is no snow on the ground to go sledding and it's too cold and rainy to just sit outside to stare blankly at the treeless backyard. And I officially suffer from a rather extreme case of social anxiety without it officially being labeled a "disorder." So, you know, that's been fun dealing with for the past year and a half... (And by that, I mean it's been outwardly noticeable for that long.)

So I'm in the mood for nothing other than wandering bookstores and staring at clothing on the internet I can't afford. I did, however, impulse buy shoes from Modcloth because they have cat faces on the toes. It was a level of need nothing could have survived. (The shoes come Friday. SO EXCITED!)

I wanted to post a picture of them, but apparently their sold out as the link to them is gone... Knew those shoes were worth it.

On the plus side, I've written about 5000 words and I still haven't lost interest in this particular story line. In fact, it has a plot. A full on, particularly well thought out, plot. I am so excited to have an actual plot for once. I normally suck at those. Characters, I can pour out endlessly, plots... It's taken me years to come up with just one.

One of my incredible friends and I have been emailing each other back and forth with bits of the stories we write. This way we can make sure we're writing things people other than ourselves understand and that what we write makes sense to begin with. Much better than handing it to family members who coo over it and say what a good writer we are even if it's the most dreadful limerick the world has ever suffered.

Speaking of poetry, I once wrote a brilliant short story about demons who could only be vanquished by haikus. One day I'll incorporate this into something more important than boredom during class. Some people doodle, I write haikus for killing demons. Beat that.

And now I have coffee, so I might as get back to writing. I do have plans to have one whole manuscript by the end of this year after all.

Knitting and Circuses

Just read through a few past things I've written... Yeah... I do promise that when I write proper things I use grammar and remember all the words that belong in sentences. Missing words are not a thing that are useful to reading.

But that's not what I'm here to write about today.

I've been asked to post some of the things I make, so I'm going to do that. It's really something I've been meaning to do for some time, so might as well get around to it. I don't have pictures of most of the things, but there are some pictures I do have.

First thing I have is a picture of a sweater I knitted over the summer. It's a bit big, and I have a nice wrap belt I use when wearing it, but this picture is just me in the sweater.

Goodness, I look so happy in that picture, but I had been battling the computer and trying to not look ridiculously happy. I've got a bit of a habit of doing that, the ridiculously happy thing.

I also have a Renascence Festival costume to share once I get the skirt made up. And a steampunk outfit I'm nearly finished with to post in a bit. That needs to be made up soon as I'll need it next month.

Now, for the fun bit.

Circuses!

So, Erin Morgenstern wrote this incredible, fantastic, all around perfect book, The Night Circus.

My friends had been raving about it for a while and so I picked it up at the book store not entirely sure what I was to expect from it.

I love walking into a completely unknown book. No expectations other than it's gonna be good. And this book did not disappoint. The first two pages alone had me hooked. I've read a lot of books in my time. A. Lot. And never have I read a book that began quite like this one.

"The circus arrives without warning." pg1

It continues with such vivid description I can see, smell, taste everything going on. It's such vivid imagery and written in the second person! I've never read a non-adventure book written like that! After these two pages a proper narrative begins and you're dragged into the late 1800's where we meet Celia and her father and watch as she's dragged into one of the most horrible games ever perceived between two impossibly old magicians. She, and Marco are pitted against each other in what seems to be a battle of skill and power... But it's more than that, so much more. The circus, an incredible thing that "opens and night" and "closes at dawn", is created as their performance arena. People become involved in the game without even knowing it. Right there next to the magic they never realize exists. The way it affects these people. But the ones involved aren't all there is to it. The attendees are just as important to the story. What they see. And every so often the second person narrative is brought back to describe a tent or food or drink in such detail you can smell autumn in the air, see the black and white striped tends, taste the spiced cider. Everything is perfectly described. And I fell in love with the book, the details, the characters, their lives. Everything. When I finished it I sat and stared blankly wondering why none of this existed. Why couldn't I go to a a circus like that?

This is definitely among the most incredible things I've read this year, and I've already read six books or so. I really recommend reading it.

And back to the costume things I mentioned earlier...

I desperately want to make a costume based around this book.

And one last thing. Writing things again. I think I'm writing them poorly, but 3000 poorly written words is still better than 10 well written ones, so... Yeah. I'll try to add another 3000 poorly written words to that soon. At least it has some semblance to a plot. I always have problems with those plots.

The End of Times

Yay 2012! Lots of lovely things to look forward to this year like going to IUP in the fall, turning 21, and, the most exciting bit, the end of the world! -insert party blower noise here-

I don't really buy into the whole end of the world bit, though I'm oddly excited to see what sort of events will take place that day. Shall be interesting.

But today's post is not to discuss the end of the world. Today I wish to put down my resolution for the new year.

For the year of 2012 I resolve to finish the shit I've started. The sweaters, manuscripts, the awesome steampunk outfit, the Hogwarts scarves I'm very far behind on.  Mostly, I want to finish the manuscripts. Well, a manuscript at the very least. Now, it doesn't need to be edited by the end of the year, but I need a full story with a beginning, middle, and end that flows in a properly useful sort of way. But I will finish things. I will cut back on my addiction to tumblr and just write. I will cut back on Sims 3, Harvest Moon, and laying in bed sleeping for an unnecessary long time. I want to be a writer, and the only way that'll happen is if I write, so that's what I'll do. And inbetween writing, I will finish the fifty sweaters I've started and the Hogwarts scarves I owe friends. And this is the goal.

So help me if the world ends just as I finally finish a manuscript. I will do horrible things to stuff then... I have no clue what sort of horrible things or to what I shall do these horrible things to, but it will occur.

Uh... Mini Muffins?

I had a post that was rather political. And then I decided that if anyone read it I'd get angry messages, and, being the non-confrontational mouse that I am, I decided I did not like this idea. I might try again later once I've done a bit more research. If I do post something political, I want to make sure I have my facts right and have fully heard all sides of the story.

Instead, I'm going to do homework...

Oh, I was going to post something of substance...

Uh...

Here have this nice video I found!

Oops

I promised a post, didn't I...

Sure, I only really promised this to myself and maybe Mattie (if she's reading) but I really had meant to get that post up. Too much homework, though! Busy, busy, busy. Have an offer down on a house with three friends. Renting, that is. Not to buy, not yet. But we have the offer into the landlady who's just the sweetest thing. Going off to do that Tuesday. And talk to professors at the school I'm transferring to.

At the moment, I'm procrastinating. I should be reading Benjamin Franklin's autobiography but I'm not sure if I've ever read anything so dull. Oh right,  I read Grapes of Wrath once. I'm also working on a short response to go with the reading. So, what I'm actually doing is skimming the reading and writing things as I come up with them and will stop upon finishing the response.

Right, so I shall get this short story, or part 1 of the short story, up as soon as possible.

DFTBA!

Oh My...

Today I went to a quiet corner of the library to do some homework. Now, I do this often, but today was a bit more pandemonium filled that usual.

A group of kids in their freshman year of high school showed up in my corner. I'm used to them appearing in the general area of my corner, but they don't typically socialize with me... And when I inform them I'm doing homework, this tends to happen even less. Not today. No, today was speak with the girl on the computer. And so they did.

Now, I've been out of high school for three years now. I've come to understand that I was naive all throughout my time there, never did I realize how naive I was. Two of them had scars all up their arms. I had never actually seen this before. I knew it happened, but, goodness. They were nice kids, those two. Quieter than the others. And less inclined to speak of their sex lives. Oh yes, dear reader, I got some interesting details on that.

Now, I feel it's needed to mention they're all 14 years of age. Except the one girl, she was 13. This girl actually asked me if it was normal to still be a virgin at her age.

To be honest, I was in such shock I couldn't speak. Now, I was never raised that abstinence is the only way, strongly encouraged, but if I wan't to have sex then I was free to do so with the proper "protection." I've also come to realize how far I've distanced myself from social media. I don't follow celebrities, I don't watch MTV. In most senses, I'm no less naive than a kindergartner. They sit there listening to their heavy metal. I sit here listening to Les Miserable. They go on about how their parents are never there, my mother is currently assisting me in getting set to transfer colleges. Their friends are horrible to them, my friends are incredible people whom I'd trust in just about any situation.

Am I luckier than they are? Is that what it comes down to? I can't imagine that's it. But how did I end up like this, and they like that? I'm worried for generations to come, but I think every generation comes to this feeling at some point in their life. Concerned about the ones to come after. Grant it, I'm concerned about my own generation.

I truly don't understand, and I'm not sure I ever can.