Girl got yarns

I went to pick up my yarns yesterday. Worsted yarn (a fine wool yarn) and silk yarn (more like thread, because it's embroidery silk). I am so psyched to get started with these, just look at them! So pretty...!

There's no party like a fancy dress party

I love, love, love fancy dress parties!

   I don't have enough positive words for how much I love them. I never say no to going to one but am personally absolute shit at arranging them. I've tried in the past to enthuse my fellow nerds but to no avail, some of them just can't be bothered. Thus, I have had to accept the fact that other people do not in fact share my love for fancy dress parties.

   BUT COME ON! How can you not like dressing up in weird clothes?? With a little bit of imagination there's no stopping the fun.

Who wants to play with Wednesday Addams...?

   So I was (FINALLY) invited to a fancy dress party this Saturday and since I'm a huge nerd I had a costume lying around just waiting to be worn. No joke. I had so much fun it's almost indecent. Met a lot of new people which is also great, but... playing dress-up! Yay!

In need of new silks

I decided to go to The Medieval Week again this year. And, lo and behold, also managed to score vacation time over that week. Unexpected, in that surprisingly wonderful way.
   Subsequently, I want to create something new for my medieval wardrobe. A new dress. Lacing in front, buttons in arms. Edge weave by the button holes for more durable edges... ideas that are like music to my ears.
   I've ordered both wool and silk yarns. Last I heard they've shipped and are on their way. I've missed working with these materials and the methods required will keep my hands busy. I will probably complain and moan about the world of hurt my hands will be in, but it will be sooooo worth it.
   So lets get started.

Here, have a laugh

This cracked me up and made me want to share. Ryan Reynolds is a treasure.

In other news: Fuck you YouTube

In other words: YouTube has deemed all things LGBT+ unsuitable material to anyone under the age of eighteen all the while leaving pure pornographic, violent, racist, and misogynist material to be seen by anyone. How is this still an issue? I don't understand. How can it be seen as worse for trans* (and other gender non-conforming) kids to find support and role models on YouTube than them killing themselves in lack of same support?  (Psst. Go support Chase on Patreon.)

Participating with the TRHPS gang

I don't remember exactly when it was that I first experienced the madness of The Rocky Horror Picture Show but I know very well how much I loved it, because it stuck with me and never failed to bring a smile to my face at any point of recollection. It was about ten years ago that I discovered this audience participation business going on with cult musicals as I saw a Swedish film critic go to a The Sound of Music Audience Participation dressed up as a nun. The dude in question is over six feet tall, is a total metal head with the long hair and HUGE sideburns but he looked as if he had a blast and a half singing along with "The Hills are Alive".

   It was inspiring.

   Also funny as fuck.

   And I wanted to do it too.

   Never were a huge fan of The Sound of Music though.

   Which brings us back to that cult hit Rocky Horror.

   Last week I did my first (but I hope not the last) The Rocky Horror Picture Show Audience Participation. Dressed in a fancy vest and jacket, extravagant bow tie, silver shoes, and flamboyant (and extremely cheap) pink feather boa I nervously entered the theatre with a friend on my arm and was welcomed by what I can only describe as our 'Fellow Transylvanians'. A whole horde of them. Now it was our turn to have a blast and a half through the film and then disperse to our separate homes. That whole thrilling experience only to be left staring off into space in longing for the next time we can meet up and do the Time Warp together.

   Just wow. Highly recommended.

The Hutt Recommends: the Caves of Steel

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
The first of the Robot novels (of which I, Robot is number 0.1).

Simply put, it's a murder mystery set a few thousand years in the future.
   A more roundabout way of describing it would be to say that humans have colonised space and created artificial intelligence. On Earth this means everything from overpopulation, ever imminent starvation and extreme pollution to robots obviously robotic-looking taking over simpler duties in workplaces. Discord is growing. In Spacer colonies it means bureaucracy is king and empathy is dead - humans with any gene defect are euthanised as to avoid the troubles so rampant on Earth - and advanced humanoid robots are the latest secret project.
   Then: murder.
   A Spacer is murdered on Earth and Detective Elijah Baley is called to the scene to solve the murder before the partner he's forced to take on does. I present to you: humanoid robot R. Daneel Olivaw, the latest of Spacer technology. In fact, so recently out of production that nearly no one knows he's a robot (indicated by the 'R' before his name which Baley conveniently leaves out whenever introducing him to anyone seeing as no one likes/trusts robots).
   They set forth on a journey together not only solving the case but also a much deeper political plot.

   This is classic scifi at its best! We're presented to big questions on existence, the fear of tomorrow, what it means to be human, and what makes a good society. It's philosophical and deep yet easy to take in without getting lost along the way or sacrificing the plot only to present some strange view on the human condition.
   Caves of Steel is also obviously a child of its time and being first published in 1954 means that I had a hard time finding any female characters, even more of a hard time finding women with any sort of agency. There's Baley's wife, but she's not of much use to the story. After that the list of female characters abruptly ends and yes, of course that sad fact makes me grumble but I have to admit to preferring this kind of representation in classic scifi (which is barely any at all) instead of the kind I've found to be rampant in a lot of Heinlein's scifi where women are either vapid and useless or manipulative whores (Door into Summer (publ. 1957) and Time Enough For Love (publ. 1973), being the worst of what I've read so far, jeez... I couldn't even finish Time Enough it was so bad). Then on the other hand, I expect so much more out of anything written after the 1980's (thank the gods for Carl Sagan) than I do out of what came before (e.g. the Robot novels). I desperately need people of my generation to be better than their predecessors and write better (ie MORE INCLUSIVE) fiction but that does not mean that I'll excuse bad representation in classic scifi.

Fuck this planet

Dude, I need a new job.