Six and a half years ago, I laid it all out on the table: the pros and cons of going back to school for a masters in linguistics so I could teach adult ESL. I knew I wanted to leave the job I was in, and I knew I'd enjoy teaching English. But I was worried about all kinds of unknowns: would grad school be boring and frustrating? Would it be too ( Read more... )

Note to self, next time don't use cheap dollar store "dough." The black blob at the end is real Model Magic, made a huge difference in ease of use and final look.

Z helped me shape and place the clay, and he colored the backdrop. He also helped me pick out the sound effects and music. We shot 158 pictures to make this video.

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But I have to admit, this is fun!

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Z wanted to make a stop motion video with his toys. He is also currently obsessed with Pac-Man, so he wanted to make something that was like Pac-Man eating a ghost. Hence the title of our latest oeuvre:

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In which Helena and Riddle see astronauts, vampires, and puppets, and the Lizborg has a night out on the con.

After numerous problems with what has become known around here as "that bloody wig," I've made an executive decision to retire Dark Helena. The most interesting part of the costume is actually the prop, Riddle the sphinx-in-a-basket, so ( Read more... )

So I did a few things this year at DragonCon ( Read more... )

Who says you can't dance at the Savoy Ballroom anymore?

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Friday night, Aaron and I took the bus into New York City, checked into our unprecedentedly swanky hotel (courtesy of a lot of credit card points), and took the A train uptown to Harlem.  There we met Neil Shoemaker, the boundlessly enthusiastic founder and owner of Harlem Heritage Tours.  When ( Read more... )

43 years ago today some insanely brave men landed a tin can held together with spit and chewing gum on an airless ball of rock some 238 million miles from home. Today I showed Z this video. He asked "Can I go to the moon when I'm an astronaut?" I sure hope so, son.

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So it turns out my new phone, while otherwise awesome, shoots amazingly bad video. Not just grainy, but *blocky* and pixelated. Next time I'll shoot on my actual camera. :P

I've been saying for a long time now that I'm in terrible shape. My dance endurance has dwindled, to the point where anything over 200 bpm leaves me wheezing and panting. (Of course, to anyone who doesn't lindy hop, 200 bpm is quite respectable, but in lindy, that's where things are just *starting* to get fast ( Read more... )