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NERDS Show, Lowell, MA, 03/05/2016: transactions and evaluation

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I attended the NERDS Show to meet fellow doll fans and new dolls. I hoped that I would sell some stuff, preferably enough to break even, and maybe find some doll stuff to buy, but I didn’t really expect to. I was therefore happily surprised to a) offload some stuff I didn’t want and b) acquire some stuff that I did.

 

In terms of riddances, I sold a Sleeping Elf/Tinybear Bon Bon [$125.00] and a fur wig [$5.00]. I got rid of a pair of Dikadoll jointed hands in a sale [$30.00] + partial trade [wig]. That was more than enough to cover the expense of table and room rental [$35.00], and I even got a small chunk of change to put toward taxes.

 

In terms of acquisitions, I picked up two freebies: a leotard and a sparkly overskirt. The second will work for Isabel, but the first may not be adequately modifiable for her, though it will certainly fit a narrower 1:6 scale doll. No pictures.

 

I took pictures of my more exciting acquisitions.

 

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NERDS Show, Lowell, MA, 03/05/2016: Sacred Stones Studio, LuckyXIII’s dolls

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The owners from Sacred Stones Studio in Connecticut were kind enough to give information about owner, maker, and sculpt for all their dolls, as well as credits for wigs, faceups, and outfits, not to mention character sketches for a significant number. Very entertaining! All information about Sacred Stones dolls comes directly from said signs.

Continue reading NERDS Show, Lowell, MA, 03/05/2016: Sacred Stones Studio, LuckyXIII’s dolls

NERDS Show, Lowell, MA, 03/05/2016: swap meet table, CatalystFlours, and Holy Calamity

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Lyrajean and I conveniently sat next to the most popular area of the show: the swap table. Besides things available for sale or trade, the swap table also held a bunch of dolls belonging to Missi. Continue reading NERDS Show, Lowell, MA, 03/05/2016: swap meet table, CatalystFlours, and Holy Calamity

NERDS Show, Lowell, MA, 03/05/2016: our table + Maverick and Madison’s

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Lyrajean and I started bright and early for Lowell, MA, yesterday, leaving my house at 7:00 AM for the long-awaited NERDS Show. I brought Yamarrah, not for sale, but to attract attention to the various clothes and small resin items I was selling.  Lyrajean hauled along a few display peoples, but mostly a yard sale’s worth of furniture in various scales, as well as clothes she had made.

 

We traveled without incident until we approached Lowell. The city, which started off as a mill town, features densely packed, narrow streets, the lay-out complicated by canals and the Merrimack River. This lay-out probably worked fine before cars, but it’s a clusterfuck for automotive traffic. Because it’s so hemmed in by water, Lowell cannot easily expand its streets for the usual complement of cars + bikes + pedestrians, so it accommodates all modern-day travel by creating a labyrinth of one-way streets. Somehow this gets people where they’re supposed to go, but in a manner that is neither logical, nor expected, nor easily discernible by the casual visitor. Let’s just say we had some difficulty getting around in Lowell. Fortunately we had budgeted time for getting lost, so we arrived at the Western Ave. Studios before the show began.

But we made it! Western Ave. Studios, a previously light industrial space converted into a warren of artists’ studios, reminds me favorably of artists’ studios in the South End. The NERDS Show set up in the Onyx Room. Painted black, windowless except for a skylight, and strung with disco balls and paper lanterns, the Onyx Room looked like a great place for a dance party or theater in the round. Round display tables, where people could show off their dolls, were distributed in the entry way, while about ten rectangular vendor tables, including ours, lined the inside perimeter. Some clusters of upholstered chairs in the center provided a space for mini meetups. Right by the off-street parking, the bathrooms, and all the studios participating in the Western Ave. Studios’ open studios event that day, the Onyx Room was optimally situated to attract not just doll enthusiasts, but also people who came for the open studios. In short, the Onyx Room proved the best possible place to have the show, with the sole reservation being that the lack of natural light made photos a challenge.

Lyrajean and I set up our wares all over our table. Good thing I had much less stuff than she, as her stuff was literally stacked in layers. As I have never staffed a vendor table, I did not know what to bring beyond my goods, my tablet computer [in case people wanted to use Paypal], cash, and my camera + memory card, of course. Thus I tossed in paper, pens, plastic bags, tent cards, an extension cord, water bottle, snacks, painkillers [as I fell on the ice last week and banged an unpadded part of my ass], even my cell phone [which usually never leaves my house]. That seemed to be a comprehensive array of supplies, although, in future, I will also bring hand cream and a snot rag. I will also eat a substantial lunch [not a bag of Deep River rosemary and olive oil chips, however delicious they may be] before the event starts.

I set up Yamarrah on Jareth’s “crotch stand” [i.e., a stand of adjustable height with a U-shaped clip that a doll can situate their crotch in] with one her favorite creemees to attract attention. As Lyrajean observed, she did a very good job of it. Her bright and unusual styling caught the eye of passersby, as did the fact that she was standing up in a naturalistic position. Anyway, I have decided to acquire more “crotch stands” for my 1:3 scale BJDs. They’ve been sitting around [literally] for years and years, as I’ve always been worried that standing them without support would lead to shelf dives, but they just look so much cooler when upright occasionally!

 

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Father of Lies part II: disability = difference

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I just reread Father of Lies by Ann Turner, and I both love it and hate it in equal measure. Briefly put, it’s about Lidda, an unconventional Puritan girl who lives in the time of the Salem witchcraft outbreak. She feels compelled to denounce her town’s mass panic over the supposed machinations of Satan. Her developing relationship with an invisible man inside her, Lucian, who encourages her defiant, rebellious behavior and claims to give her the power to see the truth of the witchcraft accusations, makes her life somewhat more complicated. Much to my dismay, Turner completely misrepresents Salem, a failure that I have discussed earlier at great length. As the Goblin King would say, “What a pity,” because Turner does so well at other aspects of the story. For example, her depiction of Lidda and Lucian’s relationship — indeed, Lidda’s mental illness in general — is powerful, sensitive, nuanced, rich, and basically everything that I wish her treatment of Salem was.

 

Regarding Lidda’s mental illness, it is neither a surprise nor a spoiler that she has one. The Library of Congress data at the front of the book categorizes Father of Lies as a book about “1. Manic-depressive illness — Fiction,” even before “2. Trials (Witchcraft) — Fiction.” If that ain’t explicit enough, Turner dedicates the book to “all those with bipolar disorder who work so hard to make lives for themselves.” She also includes an afterword entitled About Bipolar Disorder, in which she makes it clear that all of Lidda’s strange and frightening perceptions [racing thoughts, seeing auras, uncontrollable movement, hallucinations] may be adequately explained by the disorder. Though she concludes with an open question about Lucian’s reality, Turner obviously characterizes him as a hallucination, an unreal product of Lidda’s imagination, and thus the most salient symptom of her mental illness.

Okay, so Lidda has a mental illness, and she directs much of her time, energy, and interest to Lucian, a person who does not exist outside of her head. Now, if this were a typical book written by an author without a mental illness and/or characters in their head, Lidda’s mental illness and her relationship with Lucian would be horrible barriers to happiness, fulfillment, or satisfaction. Lidda’s inability to be like everyone else would cause her no end of distress; her relationship with Lucian would just highlight for her what she was missing in relationships with people outside her head. In other words, she would be wretched and miserable because of her mental illness. She would only attain peace through managing her symptoms, denying her unique perceptions, and almost certainly killing off Lucian. And the narrative would stink of condescending pity for the poor little mentally disabled protagonist.

 

But this is not your typical book written by someone without a mental illness [and, I’m assuming, without characters like Lucian in her head]. Nope, in fact, Turner takes both Lidda and Lucian seriously in Father of Lies. While definite that Lidda has a mental illness, of which Lucian is a particularly egregious manifestation, Turner accords Lidda robust characterization without ableist authorial pity. Because of her mental illness, Lidda suffers physical and emotional pain that those around her do not: when she feels chilled and overheated in rapid succession, for example, or when she panics upon seeing flames emanating from her sister’s head. Yet she also experiences unshared joys: the sense of flight and freedom in a wild onrush of thoughts, the secret solace of a friend inside her who admires her for those traits that people around her chastise. As Turner writes it, Lidda’s mental illness makes her life different from that of most people around her, and it frequently contributes to the difficulties she faces. However, Lidda’s mental illness is never shown as inherently bad, wrong, pathetic, or burdensome. It may be disabling on occasion, but mostly it’s just a difference upon which the author places no negative judgment.

Turner’s respect for Lidda comes across most subtly and pervasively in the way that Lucian is written. As noted, Turner’s descriptions of Lucian as a voice in Lidda’s head, a sensation centered in her belly, and sometimes a shifting, flickering form on the wall demonstrate to the reader that he is an imaginary, unreal hallucination and byproduct of Lidda’s mental illness. To Lidda, however, he is a true, concrete, separate individual with his own agenda and personality. She jokes with him, argues with him, asks his advice, wonders where he goes when he won’t talk to her, fantasizes about him, and otherwise treats him like a real person. Turner reports all of Lidda’s interactions with Lucian in a straightforward, matter-of-fact manner. Turner never looks down on Lidda for believing in Lucian, nor does she invite the reader to do so.  Avoiding the evaluative and contemptuous distance endemic to so many portrayals of people with disabilities and/or mental illness, Turner’s portrait of Lidda shows that she is mentally ill, but also fully human, fully sympathetic, and fully dignified.

I must note that Turner’s treatment of Lidda isn’t perfect, verging as it does on the stereotype of Super Crip with Compensatory Powers. In the concluding paragraph of the afterword, Turner writes, “Was Lidda mad, or was she saner than the villagers? You decide” [p. 239]. Ignoring the artificially binary choice, we can discern that Turner wants us to answer yes to both questions. She wants us to think that, yes, Lidda was “mad” or mentally ill, and, yes, she was “saner” — or, more precisely, more reasonable and accurate in her analysis of the witchcraft outbreak — than the villagers. In fact, because Turner has Lucian tell Lidda that he gives her the wit to separate truth from lies, Turner effectively argues that Lidda’s reasonable, accurate analyses derive directly from her mental illness. Like Daredevil, Professor X, Daphne in Heroes, or any other superhero who loses some capacity, but then gains a magical ability that allows them to do way more than they ever did and thus basically renders the lost capacity irrelevant, Lidda has the superpower of seeing the truth. Her superpower comes from her mental illness and reinforces her unfortunate status as an insufferable Visionary Before Her Time Doomed to Pass Her Days Among the Small-Minded Masses. [See my analysis of this anachronistic concept in part I.] In other words, Turner risks defining Lidda by — and thus reducing her to and objectifying her with — her disability. Turner’s sympathetic and respectful treatment of Lidda ensures Lidda’s full humanization, but the deleterious authorial tendency to objectification yet remains.

 

Despite my caveat, I generally approve of Turner’s deployment of mental illness in Father of Lies. Though it occasionally smells like a crashingly obvious metaphor that Turner uses to highlight the “true” “madness” at play [i.e., the anti-witchcraft panic], Lidda’s mental illness mostly functions with a refreshing realism. Sometimes it contributes to her distress, sometimes to her happiness, always to her unique interpretation of reality. While Lidda’s mental illness sometimes estranges her from people and causes her difficulties because her perceptions don’t accord with others’, Turner does not ask the reader to pity Lidda because of her disability. The matter-of-fact way in which Turner reports on Lidda’s treatment of Lucian demonstrates that Lidda recognizes her difference from other people, but does not think any worse of herself for it. In a culture where the treatment of people with disabilities defaults to snide objectification, Turner’s well-rounded, compassionate characterization of Lidda is a radical [and depressingly uncommon] argument for disability rights.

 

Well, it looks like I don’t have time tonight to expatiate about Lucian and the Bishonen Fever Dreams. More later….

Part I here.

Part III here.

Part IV here.

Part V here.

Ann Turner’s Father of Lies part I: flunking Salem

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Two kinds of books automatically draw my interest: 1) those about the Salem witchcraft outbreak and 2) those about girls or women who talk to people in their heads and fear that they might be going insane. A book about a girl who talks to someone in her head and fears that she might be going insane in the context of the Salem witchcraft outbreak will thus make me drop everything and read. Since Ann Turner’s Father of Lies — featuring fourteen-year-old Lidda as the girl in question and Lucian as the ambiguous person inside her — combines both of these interests, you can see why I snatched it up eagerly. Unfortunately, Turner uses these combustible, promising subjects to tell what I consider is the wrong story.

First, a little plot summary. Lidda, as I have mentioned, lives in the Puritan colony of Massachusetts, on the verge of the eighteenth century. She has no desire to comport herself as expected; she does not want to be a sober, modest, God-fearing wife. She likes the tales of murder and flirtation in the Bible, but has no patience for the apocalyptic visions of doom and punishment that the ministers conjure up regularly. She would rather dance, wear bright colors, climb trees, and speak her mind. She wishes that she lived someplace more exciting than Salem.

As if Lidda’s inability to accept any aspect of the Puritan status quo wasn’t enough, two other complications mess up her life. First of all, she has these episodes with inconsistent symptoms. Sometimes her thoughts race, and she can’t control them; sometimes her bodily sense of temperature is off, or she sees burning auras around people, or she can’t help but yell, laugh, or dance. During these episodes, this man, Lucian, appears inside her at intervals, alternately mocking and complimenting her. He claims that he has given her the power to tell truth from falsehood, but Lidda’s not sure what to do with that.

Lidda’s Lucian-granted power of discernment would certainly be an asset in the case of the second complication, which is, to put it simply, an infestation of evil. Starting with a few girls around Lidda’s age, people all over town have been falling into fits, tortured by the specters of witches. Most people believe that, indeed, devils and witches live among them, lurking, waiting for the chance to ambush and torture. But Lidda, who has overheard the afflicted girls planning their accusations, knows that there is no witchcraft here, only petty vengeance and a sense of self-importance magnified by a panicked mob mentality. How can she speak out against this dissembling without being called a witch herself?

…And here we arrive at the problem. Turner frames the central conflict of this story as the struggle of an insightful, independent-minded, rebellious girl to tell the truth in a repressive, ignorant, and sexist setting. Not just any repressive society either, but the Puritans, who, as conventional wisdom tells us, were quite possibly the most uptight, humorless, judgmental, prejudiced, irrational, retrograde, philosophically constipated, and generally miserable people in the history of the United States. In other words, Turner is writing not The Father of Lies, but The Tragedy of Lidda Johnson vs. the Evil Puritans, with Bonus Salem Witchcraft Outbreak to Illustrate Just How Evil the Puritans Really Are. And that’s the wrong story, mostly because it’s a historically inaccurate crock of shit.

If we want to be historically accurate [and much more interesting] about this, the theme of the story should be something like one girl’s struggle to identify good and evil in a society ravaged by war, violence, and political instability and characterized by fundamental uncertainty. And, just to make things even more difficult, let’s throw the entire community into a crisis of faith and pitch the girl into her own personal crisis about the nature of reality and her experiences. Woo hoo! Now step back, and watch the action begin.

Turner’s simplistic concept of the Puritans diverts her from one of the most salient aspects of the setting: the constant terror. Her portrayal of the witchcraft outbreak as cruel games orchestrated by some power-drunk girls, which were then enhanced by gullibility and rabble-rousing, completely ignores the levels of pain, suffering, and fear that these people lived with on a daily basis. First of all, they lived in a culture of rudimentary, ineffective medicine and high mortality [especially of mothers and kids], when so many babies died young that they just recycled the dead kids’ names for the next ones to be born. Second of all, they lived in New England, which, with its long, snowy, cold winters, impassable mud season, and short, hot summers, is a climatological craphole. Third of all, back then, Salem was on an unstable, war-torn frontier, isolated from what the Puritans considered civilization [i.e., Great Britain] by an entire ocean. People died in wars against the French and Abenaki all the time. Indians kidnapped, tortured, and killed settlers just miles away. Everyone knew someone who had died in such violence. In summary, Salem was not a good place to live; physical suffering was ubiquitous.

Puritan religious beliefs compounded the bodily suffering by adding spiritual and emotional dimensions. The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony believed that they were born sinful. They would not know if they were part of the elect — that is, if they would go to Heaven — until they died and actually ended up there. God determined who was saved and who was damned according to some secret process that no human could fathom and that no human could affect. Not even good works and piety could guarantee one’s place among the elect. Furthermore, assuming that one was saved was arrogance of the worst sort. One should always interrogate oneself, looking inside for signs of worthiness. This left your average Puritan in an endless introspective recursion of helpless anxiety, vacillating between hope that they were Heaven-bound and terror that they weren’t.

With this information in mind, we can see how the Salem witchcraft outbreak is not primarily about silly, superstitious people being easily whipped into a pointless panic, as Turner would have it. It’s more about people who, already on edge, physically miserable, and emotionally tortured, find themselves besieged by their worst nightmares. Let’s face it — if, on top of the shitty weather and the high mortality and the dubious health care and the upheaval of frontier life and the casualties of war and the threats of Indian invasion and the fact that you’re a born wretched sinner and the possibility that, no matter what you do, you might not go to Heaven, you also have to deal with your neighbors having fits and your friends and enemies hurling witchcraft charges at each other and the Devil taking other people’s shapes and invisibly tormenting people and an ever increasing number of townsfolk confessing to alliance with the Devil, you might be slightly concerned that reality as you know it appears to be coming apart at the seams. Please note that I am not discounting the superstitions, racism, classism, sexism, religious bigotry, and socioeconomic factors that shaped the Salem witchcraft outbreak. The point I’m trying to make here is that every single person affected by the Salem witchcraft outbreak faced a fundamental, epistemic terror that led them to see witchcraft as both a personal and a community threat.

While the historical Salem and environs labored under a burden of fear, Turner’s Salem lacks such pervasive anxiety. Lidda herself epitomizes this anachronistic insouciance. For just a few examples:

  • The Puritans hated the Indians, feared them, thought them subhuman, murderous monsters, and elided them with the Devil, but Lidda does not see them as a threat. “Perhaps she would run off and join the Wabanaki Indians farther north,” Lidda thinks [p. 11]. “Were they as cruel as the tales said? She thought people exaggerated…” Instead, she fantasizes about running away to live with them because they don’t make their kids wear corsets.
  • Puritan society, including the ministers, who were considered general experts and role models, had a complicated relationship with magic. Even though belief in God and the Devil predominated and was supposed to exclude a belief in magic, the principles of sympathetic magic circulated as general cultural knowledge. Not everyone practiced magic, but Puritans thought that it could be a good supplement to more Godly activities — a way to hedge bets, so to speak. At one point, however, Lidda concludes that the baking of a witch cake, a piece of folk magic designed to identify the witches in their midst, arises from a combination of “fear, lies, and stupidity” [p. 83]. Lidda’s harsh condemnation of the cultural vocabulary of magic thus seems unconvincing.
  • All the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony worried about the state of their souls. They wondered incessantly about their damnation and/or salvation. While the Devil was always a real and imminent threat to them, the witchcraft outbreak turned him into a particularly personal adversary. You had to watch out for him because he was going to do everything in his power — corrupting your neighbors and family, sickening your animals and crops, sending nightmares and physical pains, even taking the shape of innocent people and plaguing you — to turn you to evil. However, the Devil does not seem to bother Lidda. When Lucian appears in her head, inciting her to rebellious behavior and implying that God has nothing to do with him, Lidda barely entertains the thought that he’s demonic. In fact, she rejects that conclusion: “How seductive he was, how beautiful, just as Reverend Parris spoke of the Devil, except she did not think Lucian was evil. Something else, but not — the Evil One” [p. 56]. She interprets him as her friend and a flattering source of evidence that she possesses perspicacity that everyone else lacks, even though Turner gives Lidda no reason for her conclusions.

In other words, Lidda is a thoroughly modern fourteen-year-old, inserted into Puritan Salem solely to foment righteous indignation at her plight in automatically sympathetic, modern-day readers. Ugh. The Noble Struggles of the Feisty Proto-Feminist in a Time of Sexist Bullshit is one of the least nuanced, least accurate, and least satisfying interpretations of any historical event ever. It’s also a cheap, lazy authorial ploy to gain reader engagement at the expense of sophisticated character development and historical depiction. Worst of all, it flattens out the glorious messiness and ambiguity of history into a boring linear teleology of increasing progressiveness, of which we — O glorious, enlightened moderns! — are naturally at the apex.

I’m so very disappointed that Father of Lies turns a volatile subject, full of my favorite narrative elements [marginalized women and girls, magic and magic users, the power of storytelling, endless self-examination, queries into the nature of perception and reality, moral ambiguity, existential dread], into a simplistic morality tale. In fact, my disappointment feels particularly acute because, for all that she botches the historical part of her fiction, Turner does a virtuoso, amazing, fascinating, suggestive job with the other part of her fiction: viz., Lucian. Tune in next time when I discuss the strengths of Father of Lies in a little segment I like to call Lucian and the Bishonen Fever Dreams. [Hey, that’s a great name for a band…]

Part II here.

Part III here.

Part IV here.

 

Part V here.

Some more virtue names

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I’ve long known about the Puritan virtue names that appear occasionally among New Englanders until about the mid-1800s; I mean hell — when one has a Submit as one’s greatx8 grandmother, one does have an incentive to learn where a name like that comes from. While some virtue names like Charity, Chastity, Faith, and Hope are used even today, others have died out.

Puritan virtue names that have died out include Submit and Thankful, but also two that I recently learned about: Silence and Desire. I’m sure the Desire is something like “desire for God’s love” or “desire to be saved.” The first seems more about not expressing and the second about expression, though. I find it especially interesting that, in the context where I learned these names, Silence and Desire were sisters.

Such names have always gotten me thinking, particularly Submit. Verb names, much less imperatives, are pretty rare [although, around these parts, we are familiar with Remember Baker, Green Mountain Boy and cousin of Ethan Allen]. Was having a command as a name considered odd back then? Did Submit and Remember go by nicknames or by the one-word sentences that served as their first names? What did Submit think of having that name?

Submit, Silence, and Desire just beg for me to write a story about them — well, mostly Submit. It would be a modern-day story about a modern person named Submit and her struggles with family, ancestry, expectations of femininity, and irritatingly overdetermined nomenclature. I envision Submit as coming from a long line of women with Puritan virtue names and being particularly pissed that she didn’t get something like Faith or Hope…or, hell, even Chastity, because at least you can shorten that to Chaz. But noooooo, her mom had to name her ironically in some sort of feminist statement [????]. I get the sense that she rattles off her standard greeting — “My name is Submit Delacroix, sierra-uniform-bravo-Mike-India-tango, like the verb” — through gritted teeth every single time, and if someone says anything more than “Oh” or “Okay,” they receive the Death Glare. >:(

Cakeland!!!!

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If you put a gingerbread house, the feast scene in Pan’s Labyrinth, and any sort of Barbie furniture sets made by Mattel into a blender, something like like Scott Hove’s Cakeland would emerge. It’s a dizzyingly bright and confusing milieu of artificial sweets, flounced and swagged with endless curlicues of fake frosting. It’s — sniff! — so beautiful! This is definitely my aesthetic, though I feel that there need to be more skulls [human and avian] and switchblades.

P.S. That chandelier is making me HUNGRY!

Volks Yukinojo redux thoughts

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While I’m thinking about it, any BJD with a Yukinojo head would absolutely require an Iplehouse EID Woman body with large bust [and thigh swivels]. If such a body had been available a decade [?!?!?!?!?!?] ago when I was making my 1:3 scale BJD version of Frank, I would have snapped it up because of its perfect adherence to unrealistic, superheroic standards of voluptuousness and muscularity combined. I am pretty sure that is the only 60+ cm body of that shape out there, excluding the discontinued Angelsdoll massive girl body and its unattractive articulation. Not a real fan of Iplehouse’s poseability, but I can’t think of any alternatives with better articulation, comparable height, and equivalent shape.

Ordering from Iplehouse would provide an opportunity to acquire some of their fabulous clothes. High-collared dress showing cleavage and then some? Hot pants? The classic catsuit + corset? A dress with thigh-high leg slits and navel window? Whatever the heck this thing is? In other words, the chance to own in 1:3 scale the sort of over-the-top, ridiculous shit I heretofore have only possessed in digital? SIGN ME UP!

Volks Yukinojo = 1:3 scale Dollmore Klaire?

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I really want a Dollmore Trinity Klaire, but I highly doubt I’ll ever get one. Therefore I was just thinking about a BJD headsculpt for which I have a sentimental fondness, Volks Yukinojo, and wondering if that sculpt would be a good 1:3 scale equivalent to Klaire. I’ll have to compare my Yukinojo pics to some of Klaire…

EDIT: Klaire has much rounder and blunter nose/lips/chin, while Yukinojo’s are slightly narrower and more rectilinear. However, both dolls’ cheeks/chin/mouths are big and strong. If I closed Yukinojo’s eyes slightly, I could achieve a shape similar to Klaire’s.

Straight white cis dude writes sexist, racist, classist, ageist jeremaid.

Straight white cis dude writes sexist, racist, classist, ageist jeremaid. published on No Comments on Straight white cis dude writes sexist, racist, classist, ageist jeremaid.

“Do teens read seriously anymore?” asks the title of David Denby’s New Yorker screed. Of course not! answers the author, blaming “most of all, screens (TV, Internet, games, texting, Instagramming).” “Screens” have killed teens’ interest in self-development through “serious” reading, turning them into superficial shlubs with no attention span. I’m dying to know how Denby deduced this, since he’s so out of touch with the under-21 set that he refers to them as “teen-agers.” Why should anyone listen to this irrelevant person?

I also can’t help but notice that Denby’s idea of “serious reading” is gendered, racialized, and classed. He cites “Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, Poe, Hawthorne, Twain, Stevenson, Orwell, Vonnegut” as exemplars of the genres that today’s “teen-agers” putatively avoid. Elsewhere in his word vomit, J.D. Salinger, Charlotte Bronte, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Joseph Heller, and Allen Ginsburg appear as sadly neglected greats. “Wilde, Nabokov, Updike, Vidal” also garner mentions as “sophisticated” author-critics of the 20th century.

Of these 18 authors, all are from the United States or Great Britain, and 16 are white cis dudes, 2 white cis women. There are 2 gay dudes [whoop de fucking doo] and 0 queer women. There are no non-honkies or people of color. All of this “literature” issues from the privileged socioeconomic classes. By contrast, the fantasy, dystopian, vampire romance, and graphic novel genres that he shits on feature a much larger representation of women and/or POC and/or various socioeconomic classes and/or national origins. And Denby hates it.

Shorter Denby: “Waaaaah, my straight cis white dude privilege is being threatened!”

Oh shut up and go hang out with Simon Doonan, another rich old cis white dude master of ageist, sexist, racist vituperation.

Hat tip to Katy Waldman for her criticism of Denby’s crap on Slate.

Humanoid bipedal robot walking around and lifting stuff

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Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot walks around, opens doors, and lifts things in this amazing video. I wish I had more context, but this is still stupendous. Thoughts in no particular order:

 

  • Atlas’ stability on uneven terrain — with snow on the ground no less! — is particularly cool. I envision its stabilizing, balancing, and flexion systems eventually [if not currently] being incorporated into lower limb prostheses to obviate use of a cane, walker, or similar for some people.
  • I’m not sure why Boston Dynamics decided to design a humanoid robot, but I applaud them for throwing in some humanoid engineering as well. Most obviously, Atlas swings its arms when it moves. It didn’t have to do that; it could have had tighter shoulder joints, but Boston Dynamics mimicked humanoid design and allowed it to maintain its balance with one of the ways in which people who walk can.
  • Atlas pops up almost immediately after being knocked over — recovering just as rapidly, if not faster than, a human. I’m very impressed with its multistage standing, especially the final step, when it pushes itself to its feet using basically just the propulsion from its toes.
  • When the person kept knocking the box out of Atlas’ hands and Atlas continued to walk forward, reaching for the box, I was thinking, Don’t piss off the robot!

 

Filed under mannequins because I sure wish I had one that did that.

EeeeeEEEEEeeeeee suspenders!

EeeeeEEEEEeeeeee suspenders! published on No Comments on EeeeeEEEEEeeeeee suspenders!

I think he was going for some early 20th-century blue collar look here. The thoroughly modern OMG SQUEEEEEEEEEE! body language could be slightly anachronistic, though. :p

As an aside, I should mention that Neftis and Cauchemar3D’s G2M Jack the Ripper Hair supersedes Luthbel’s G2M Horror Survivor Marius spike, brows, and facial hair as my favorite set designed for a male figure. Jack the Ripper has a wonderful messy, wayward look. The hairline and distribution of hair on the front crown convincingly mimic a high, possibly receding forehead. In a market full of luxuriant, bountiful hairstyles created for youthful characters for whom hair loss is just a distant nightmare, Jack the Ripper remains one of the few realistic options for slightly older people. The morphs to alter/remove sideburns and mustache just make this even more versatile. Now that I’ve gotten the set to work on G3F, I do believe that I’ve found Jareth’s preferred hairstyle for whenever he feels like “butchin’ it up.”
 

Continue reading EeeeeEEEEEeeeeee suspenders!

Zombieville Chapter 10.5: Unresearched Ridiculousness

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This episode is not at all based on my reaction to the mini tombstone in question. :pContinue reading Zombieville Chapter 10.5: Unresearched Ridiculousness

Thoughts about various iterations of the Girl

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The Girl, one of Daz’ iconic figures [and, in more recent versions, figure morphs], began life as a toon created by Kim Goossens. Daz or its predecessor Zygote acquired the figure and all rights to it, I guess. From then on, the Girl joined Victoria, Michael, and a small elite of characters that appear in [almost] every generation of figures that Daz puts out.

 

The Girl has four iterations so far. The first was as a standalone figure by Kim Goossens, a contemporary of Victoria 3. The second was a character morph of Victoria 4, called Girl 4. The Girl skipped the next generation of Daz figures, Genesis 1. However, Girl 6 showed up as a morph of Genesis 2 Female. Most recently, Girl 7 appeared as a character for Genesis 3 Female. I put them in a lineup below to compare and contrast.

 

Continue reading Thoughts about various iterations of the Girl

Timonium’s new hair, or, How not to make a wig

Timonium’s new hair, or, How not to make a wig published on No Comments on Timonium’s new hair, or, How not to make a wig

I spent the last two weeks making Timonium a little red version of the Goblin King’s hair. First I ordered a bunch of rooting hair from dollyhair.com. With the delightful name of Vampire Kisses, the deep reddish color has purple tones to darken it, suggestive of both red wine and fresh blood. Perfect color for someone who claims that he sups on “the blood of the innocent.” >_>

 

Then I hand sewed a wig cap from scrap cotton print, using my faux fur pattern as a base [plus seam allowances]. I used a technique that I first tried about 15 [!] years ago to attach the hair to the cap. Holding a small clump of hair between thumb and forefinger, I trimmed the ends so they were even. I applied hot glue all around the end of the clump to stick all the strands together. I hot glued this bundle to the cap, beginning at the bottom center back of the wig cap. Working my way toward the crown in a spiral path, I attached successive bundles all over the cap. Periodically I trimmed the hair to make sure that it was all a single, manageable length. I did final styling — addition of bangs, layering, and whatnot — at the end, though.

 

I can’t think of another way that I could have easily constructed this particular style in this particular size, but I still don’t recommend this method of wig construction. It’s tedious as fuck and highly unrewarding. While I enjoy almost all aspects of doll customization, I found this one a boring chore. I’m never doing that again.

 

On the plus side, Timonium looks pretty cool now!

 

Continue reading Timonium’s new hair, or, How not to make a wig

All my dolls, 02/16/2016

All my dolls, 02/16/2016 published on No Comments on All my dolls, 02/16/2016

Technically this should really be A good complement of my dolls, excluding those who are in pieces and the one that I’ve hidden because I really don’t like it and can’t sell it, but All my dolls has a better ring to it. Continue reading All my dolls, 02/16/2016

Dolls that need work

Dolls that need work published on No Comments on Dolls that need work

For BJDs who bug me:

  • Delmar needs faceup, hair, restringing, and tail. Faceup stalled.
  • Fritillaria needs faceup, eyes, wig, outfit. Temporary outfit completed, faceup, eyes, and wig stalled.
  • Mellifer needs a complete do-over. Stalled.
  • Never the Less needs faceup, wig, clothes. Clothes done, working on wig, mask/faceup stalled.
  • Polly needs a seat belt. Stalled.
  • Thalia needs a shirt. Stalled.
  • Timonium needs a new wig cap and new hair. Working on wig cap. Done!
  • Touralyn needs a new body and clothes. Body in progress.

For Zombieville denizens:

  • Doctor Z needs her own body with appropriate neck. Ordered!
     Done!
  • Sylvia needs a new fat body. New base body procured and cut down. Fats need sculpting.

Whenever I feel like getting more 1:3 scale BJDs…

Whenever I feel like getting more 1:3 scale BJDs… published on No Comments on Whenever I feel like getting more 1:3 scale BJDs…

…[because I know I will in future, though I don’t now]…I’ll probably get one of the following:

  • Angel of Dream Hui Xiang. Long admired and very smiley, she could probably be modded into an OMV easily. She’s also rather cheap, as 1:3ers go.
  • Serenade Doll Lotus. Taking Doll Chateau’s super scrawny aesthetic into the realm of etiolated, elongated fashion illustrations, Serenade Doll pairs an impossibly long-limbed body with a small head. I wasn’t really sold on the doll until I saw this robe, which is perfect for the slim, wispy physique. The clothing convinced me to seriously consider the doll, who would be a late Victorian/early Edwardian ghost.
  • Bergemann Dolls Sassafrass. I usually dislike the blocky, rounder sculpting favored by U.S. BJD sculptors, but I’m a huge fan of THE SMIRK.

Journee, avian therianthrope

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Remember how I admired Ali’s original digital figure, Bod, recently? Well, I ended up purchasing her, and she’s just even more adorable in my runtime than she is in the promos. I ran into some difficulties clothing her until I realized that she is based off Ali’s free human figure Angela. With that knowledge, I was able to purchase her a T-shirt and shorts from Ali’s site [pretty much the only thing that wasn’t a bikini]. I also found some free poses for Angela that worked for Bod with a little accommodation for her different feet. Anyway, here’s Journee, my Bod-based character….

 

Continue reading Journee, avian therianthrope

Facial hair!!!!!

Facial hair!!!!! published on No Comments on Facial hair!!!!!

I figured out how to get facial hair [both transfers from G3F and also from previous figure generations] onto G3F so that it follows expressions! Woo hoo!

I’m also happy because this evening I just sprang for AprilYSH’s Leandros Hair and Beard for G3M. I got it because it beautifully represents the messy ponytail that I see so many people use whenever they don’t want to put much effort into styling their hair — just pull it back and don’t worry about the flyaways. The inclusion of a beard, up to AprilYSH’s usual spectacular standards of modeling, was just a nice bonus.

Now that I’m playing with it, though, I really like the beard. It’s a decent closely clipped style, very realistic, and the alternative trans maps for full hair growth and sparser hair growth are pretty convincing. Once I made a little morph to keep the mustache hairs from shoving themselves up Jareth’s nose, everything worked well.

Continue reading Facial hair!!!!!

Dance moves that “fit the meter”

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One of the most memorable and useful justifications I learned in Latin class was “It fit the meter.” You see — the Latin language poetry I translated in high school followed a rigorous form of syllabification and rhythm known as meter.

 

When we were working on lines, our teacher regularly pointed out poetic devices and asked us why we thought Virgil [because we were doing the Aeneid] — used certain words. Without fail, one kid always responded, “It fit the meter!”

 

This explanation, while technically true, always entertained me. It completely dismissed all sort of sophisticated rhetorical effects and instead focused on wedging language into the appropriate amount of syllables and lines.

 

That being said, I find myself seeing all flourishes that “fit the meter” in a variety of media. When someone is repeating “Yeah yeah yeah” or “Oh oh oh” in a song, those words exist to fit the meter. Rococo architecture is full of curlicues and flourishes that fit the meter. When my digital sets look boring and empty, I may add people and decor to fit the meter. In other words, fitting the meter means filling available space in an appropriate way.

Back to the title of this entry… After watching Michael Jackson’s Bad and Smooth Criminal, I think that a certain number of his crotch grabs and hat tilts occur because they fit the meter — i.e., they fill time and look cool.

Hey look — a mediocre picture of Never the Less!

Hey look — a mediocre picture of Never the Less! published on No Comments on Hey look — a mediocre picture of Never the Less!

I worked on Never the Less today. First I sanded down her stabby Nipples of Doom. I dressed her up, then decided that I should wire her arms. I took off her shirt and tried to shove wire into her arm channels, but the 3mm elastic filled up the holes.

I released the string running from neck to torso, took off the bust, and removed the 3mm elastic from the arms. Restringing her arms with 2mm elastic, I then easily fit wires in her arm channels. Then I had a big huge fight to bring her core elastic through her torso again and out her neck, as AOD apparently suffers an elastic shortage and so must string all dolls with the bare minimum.

 

I redressed her, then decided that she needed a bra. I took off her shirt, put on her bra, then put her shirt on. Then I had a big huge fight with her shoes, which, at 7cm inner measurement, were the exact length of her feet and thus a challenge to put on her.

 

Finally I gave her the brown frizzy wig from my collection of 1:3 scale stuff, restrung her mask with longer elastic to fit around her bulky wig, then collapsed in exhaustion. No, really, I just took a few pictures, only one of which came out any good.

 

Continue reading Hey look — a mediocre picture of Never the Less!

Taste Testing: Jareth, Tomaeo, Nero, and Russell at the bar

Taste Testing: Jareth, Tomaeo, Nero, and Russell at the bar published on No Comments on Taste Testing: Jareth, Tomaeo, Nero, and Russell at the bar

Here’s the photostory featuring Jareth in the aforementioned inimitably Jarethian outfit. Other people include Tomaeo [rainbow shirt], Russell [grey sweater], and Nero [black corset]. As usual, there’s a lot of sarcastic remarks and tongues sticking out.
Continue reading Taste Testing: Jareth, Tomaeo, Nero, and Russell at the bar

NERDS doll meetup and sale in Lowell, MA, on March 5th!

NERDS doll meetup and sale in Lowell, MA, on March 5th! published on No Comments on NERDS doll meetup and sale in Lowell, MA, on March 5th!

Yes! Something doll-related is happening in an accessible location in New England! Lyrajean and I are planning to go and split a vendor table. I hope to publicize VTDL too.

Out drinking with Tomaeo and bros on a weeknight

Out drinking with Tomaeo and bros on a weeknight published on No Comments on Out drinking with Tomaeo and bros on a weeknight

Sometimes I put together outfits that are just so quintessentially Jarethian that they make me laugh out of happy surprise. This is one of them, to be seen in a photostory that occurs during Jareth’s casual night at the bar with Tomaeo, Russell, and Nero.  The title of this picture is Makeup Emergency — Jareth’s explanation for why he took a while in the bathroom. ^_^Continue reading Out drinking with Tomaeo and bros on a weeknight

I call this one “Heeeeeeeere am I floating ’round my tin can.”

I call this one “Heeeeeeeere am I floating ’round my tin can.” published on No Comments on I call this one “Heeeeeeeere am I floating ’round my tin can.”

Testing out imaginary spacesuits in preparation for a trip to the moon. 😀 Continue reading I call this one “Heeeeeeeere am I floating ’round my tin can.”

Master of the Universe as commentary on Twilight

Master of the Universe as commentary on Twilight published on No Comments on Master of the Universe as commentary on Twilight

I skimmed some of Masters of the Universe while I was doing something else, which is probably the best way to read it. :p Thoughts follow.

  • It’s very strange to read a story in which Bella and Rosalie are roommates. I kept thinking, Wrong! Rosalie is a Cullen, and she lives in a strange vampire family with all the other Cullens.
  • Very little seems to have changed between the self-published version of Masters of the Universe and the traditionally published 50 Poops. There was obviously a search and replace done on character names, some superficial clean-up for spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and a removal of some Briticisms. Other than that, though, it’s all pretty much the same: the scenes, the lines, the adverbs, everything. Made me realize how much 50 Poops could have used an editor. I think there was an opportunity here for some heroic editorial effort to turn improve the story by excising redundancy and making it overall more concise. Then it would have still be formulaic and cliched, but at least it wouldn’t have been so badly written and constructed.
  • Now that I think about it, E.L. James’ interpretation of Edward Cullen as a really bad dom who can’t separate his actual self from his pathological need for controlling everything is pretty accurate. No wonder Stephenie Meyer doesn’t really like E.L. James. E.L. James can see the grotesquerie at the base of Meyer’s characters.

Therianthrope with talons

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I love Mankahoo’s original digital figure Bod. With her wide-set eyes, pronounced brow ridge, and talons instead of feet, she looks like an avian therianthrope. She’s the sort of character for which AprilYSH’s V4 Yolande Hair or V4 FeatherHawk would be perfect! I also feel like she needs a feathered texture…and some clothes, of course!

50 Shades and the fanfic shrew

50 Shades and the fanfic shrew published on No Comments on 50 Shades and the fanfic shrew

1. Stephenie Meyer writes Twilight saga.

2. E.L. James writes Twilight fanfic, Masters of the Universe.

3. E.L. James edits and publishes novels, the 50 Poops trilogy, based on Masters of the Universe.

4. E.L. James publishes Grey, arguably fanfic of her own trilogy.

I think we’ve moved past ouroboric territory. That snake is just biting its tail; no one ever said it was trying to consume itself from the end up. However, I hear that, when some shrews get exceedingly desperate [i.e., they haven’t eaten in about five hours], they start eating themselves. We’re in starving shrew country now.

Watch out. They bite.

“It’s a novel; it’s not a manual!”: the problem with 50 Shades of Pooooooo

“It’s a novel; it’s not a manual!”: the problem with 50 Shades of Pooooooo published on No Comments on “It’s a novel; it’s not a manual!”: the problem with 50 Shades of Pooooooo

50 Shades of Poooooooo somehow came up in discussion at the Friends of the Library meeting this evening when we were talking about the prospect of a book swap and donations this spring. I felt it apropos to mention that the first book in the series keeps getting stolen from the library, so I keep donating copies to replace it. [Okay, just twice, but still…]

Favorite response: “Why would you steal it?! It’s a novel; it’s not a manual. You’re supposed to read it and then return it, not keep it for reference!” That cracked me up because clearly the speaker was not thinking about the pleasures of rereading. I was also entertained because, distressingly, people actually do take the series as a manual for either an ideal relationship and/or how to practice bdsm.

On the subject of pooooooooooo, a friend has sent me a pdf of Masters of the Universe, which is, of course, E.L. James’ Twilight fanfic that eventually spawned the Media Juggernaut of Poooooooo. If I don’t get lost in some infinite wormhole of recursion upon reading it, I might post a thought or two about it here.

Breaking news: Kid with disability becomes object of contemptuous pity

Breaking news: Kid with disability becomes object of contemptuous pity published on No Comments on Breaking news: Kid with disability becomes object of contemptuous pity

James Rink hit his head in an Apple Store in Green Hills, TN when shopping with mom LynnMarie. Store employee Andrew Wall asked how he could help, comforted James, and programmed James’ iPad. For some reason, this is news.

 

Actually, I know the precise reason that this counts as news. It’s because of the way in which the culture at large views the kid, who has autism and Down Syndrome. Thus, because of his disabilities, the cultural narrative assumes that he is miserable, contemptible, and subhuman. The cultural narrative also assumes that non-disabled people don’t have to pay any attention to those wretched objects. Therefore, when a non-disabled person advances the radical notion that disabled people are persons worthy of respect and, as a result, treats a disabled person with basic dignity, respect, and kindness, the heads of most non-disabled people implode.

What beacons of compassion these non-disabled people are in according basic humanity to disabled people! Let’s keep our standards of humane and decent behavior so low that yet more non-disabled people can practice Level 0 Altruism and dehumanize even more disabled people!

Excuse me while I puke.

Jareth is awesome.

Jareth is awesome. published on No Comments on Jareth is awesome.

Okay, now he’s ready for prime time. I transferred Ghastly’s G2F Flat Chested morph to achieve his accurate breast size and modified his base texture to add some shadows under his eyes. I also took the subsurface scattering off his surfaces, and he looks much better — much less red. Continue reading Jareth is awesome.

Somebody is doing something with Labyrinth? I can’t tell.

Somebody is doing something with Labyrinth? I can’t tell. published on No Comments on Somebody is doing something with Labyrinth? I can’t tell.

Hollywood Reporter says that Columbia Tristar made a deal with the Jim Henson Company to have Nicole Perlman write a script having something to do with Labyrinth. Could be a redo, could be a sequel. Given the vagueness of details, I seriously can’t tell if this is legit. I dunno — is the Hollywood Reporter a reputable source?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to work on something definite from a movie, i.e., my Pouty McShouty project.

Things I am going to model whenever I get around to learning

Things I am going to model whenever I get around to learning published on No Comments on Things I am going to model whenever I get around to learning

Digitally speaking, of course. Continue reading Things I am going to model whenever I get around to learning

Temperature scales with reference to cats, Californians, Floridians, Bostonians, and Minnesotans

Temperature scales with reference to cats, Californians, Floridians, Bostonians, and Minnesotans published on No Comments on Temperature scales with reference to cats, Californians, Floridians, Bostonians, and Minnesotans

This temperature scale amuses me. I figure that the “Bostonians” column applies equally well to all Vermonters. Being dissatisfied with the weather is practically a regional sport in New England. The “Cats” column [“Yell at you until you turn the heat up”] also entertains me.

Mad Mazzy Mickle’s musical inspirations

Mad Mazzy Mickle’s musical inspirations published on No Comments on Mad Mazzy Mickle’s musical inspirations

Mad Mazzy Mickle Goes Looking for Love owes significant and obvious debts to some real-life music and musicals. In no particular order, here they are.

1) That entire subgenre of songs in the 1950s and 1960s about vehicle crashes. Epitomized by Ray Peterson’s insufferably whiny Tell Laura I Love Her [1961], this group also includes the iconic Dead Man’s Curve [1964] by Jan and Dean. The song I most associate with the genre, though, is the Shangri-Las’ Leader of the Pack [1965], which actually includes sound effects of the devastating car crash at the climax of the song. As a bonus, it also contains the line “They told me he was bad but I knew he was sad,” which is a concise summation of the appeal of the Byronic hero right there. This subgenre probably serves as the source for the automotive theme in the film.

2) The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie. Mazzy’s general appearance recalls David Bowie’s circa 1975. Also much of the album has haunting, otherworldly notes of melancholy that I envision underpinning MMM. Lady Stardust really encapsulates the tension between ecstasy and depression because it describes the speaker’s — and everyone else’s — excited fascination with the performer, but the song itself is delivered in a halting, lugubrious manner, full of regret and nostalgia. Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide, with its desperate plea for connection — “Give me your hands because you’re wonderful” — also embodies that alienation.

3) The Rocky Horror Picture Show by Richard O’Brien. MMM initially rose from my desire to explore the transformative effects of cult movies on people’s identities without using RHPS as an example. Thus Mazzy is a Frank analogue, while the Dude and Cyn are analogues of Brad and Janet, and all their trajectories are roughly the same, as is the general flow of the plot. Songs like Toucha Toucha Touch Me definitely gave me the idea for playful, punny songs.

Mad Mazzy Mickle Goes Looking for Love: plot and core cast

Mad Mazzy Mickle Goes Looking for Love: plot and core cast published on No Comments on Mad Mazzy Mickle Goes Looking for Love: plot and core cast

As all of you who pay attention to my blog [maybe two of you] know, I have a cult classic film, Mad Mazzy Mickle Goes Looking for Love, recurring in my fictional oeuvre. Modeled after The Rocky Horror Picture Show, MMM is a musical melodrama about sex, death, and drag racing in really cool cars. So far it has appeared in two places. One, a short story with the same title as the movie, follows Sarah, who played Mazzy, dealing with the legacy of stardom and typecasting in her 30s. The film also shows up in Me and My Muses, where college student Ellery watches it as part of her journey of self-discovery. I’m also planning to bring MMM into Zombieville, but I’m not giving any details.

Characters

Preferred name: Mad Mazzy Mickle
Given name: Lee Masters
Age: north of 16, south of 21
Sex: “Sure!”
Pronouns: Ze/hir
Race: “Fast.”
Family: Unknown, except for twin sibling who died shortly after birth
Colors: Pale blue, pale green
Motif: Comet
Style: Neo-retro astro-chic
Job: Ticket seller/concession manager/usher/factotum at the Psycholodeon, the city’s art-house movie theater
Pastime: Star gazing
Car: Hearse rat rod
Conflicts: Parents are actual movie stars, but ze keeps this a secret, wanting to live unaffected by them. Convinced that ze should have died instead of hir twin. Not-so-secret death wish.

Preferred name: [the] Dude
Given name used at start of movie: Richard “Dickie” John Hitchcock III
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Pronouns: He/him
Race: South Korean
Family: Adoptive super-rich white fathers, adopted younger brother
Colors: Black, dark grey
Motif: Moon
Style: Greaser/biker/Goth
Job: Back-up vocalist for the Thereminions, an ambient space techno band
Pastime: Lucid dreaming
Car: Limousine
Conflicts: Feels divorced from origins as a transracial adoptee. Dropped out of high school and now working on GED, but feels fake. Has no idea what he wants to do with his life, which freaks him the fuck out.

Preferred name: Cyn
Given name used at start of movie: Cynthia Ann “Cindy” Sweet
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Pronouns: She/her
Race: Black woman of color
Family: Working class, mother, father, two older sisters
Colors: Red, orange
Motif: Sun
Style: “Whatever’s cleanest.”
Job: Auto mechanic at Sweet Rides, the family garage
Pastime: Queering old movies
Car: 1980s station wagon with fake wood paneling that she rebuilt herself
Conflicts: Overshadowed by academically successful siblings. Feels invisible and ugly. Pretends that she doesn’t care about her practical, grease-stained look, but would much rather be “elegant.”

Plot

Intro to Dickie and Cindy and their respective families and conflicts. Then Mad Mazzy Mickle shows up, and we’re off. Everyone sings a song about what they want, and Mazzy sings seduction songs with both Dickie and Cindy with automotive puns. Seduction scenes also include stylistic transformations for Dickie/the Dude and Cindy/Cyn. Dickie/the Dude > handcuffs off, color on. Cindy/Cyn > grease off, elegance on.

For a brief, shining moment, Mazzy, the Dude, and Cyn form a happy family. Mazzy sings a song about finally feeling happy, worth something, excited about life, not wanting to escape to the stars. Planning for the big drag race — car prep, more automotive puns, increasing excitement and obsession.

Cyn’s and the Dude’s families confront them, warning them to slow down. The Dude and Cyn interpret this as rejection of their new selves, Mazzy, and their coming out in general. They remain defiant. In fact, they throw themselves into race prep even more. Mazzy sings, worrying about going too far, too fast, crashing and burning, how nothing good can last.

The race occurs: Mazzy competing against Cyn and the Dude. Cyn and the Dude tie for first, but something goes wrong with Mazzy’s car. It hits a tree and gets totaled. Cyn and the Dude discover that Mazzy appears not to have been in the car, but no one knows where ze went. Convinced that ze’s dead, each of them grieve with their families. The final scene shows Cyn and the Dude watching stars together, and they see a shooting star. Mazzy sings a song over the credits about being a star.

Fandom

MMM came out a while ago — I have to check my notes. Critical consensus thought that the young unknowns were hot and the costumes were fabulous, but the acting quality was dubious, script hackneyed, lyrics inane, and ending a tonally discordant downer. Popularly, though, MMM proved to be a hit, especially with genderqueer, trans, and/or queer youth, poly people, Goths, transracial adoptees, gay dudes, lesbian women, bi people, lucid dreamers, amateur astronomers, feminists, femmes — anyone who could find something of themselves in the main characters. MMM was a movie that people came out to and cited as life-changing. [It also changed the lives of Sarah, Sean, and Bebe, who played Mazzy, the Dude, and Cyn. They were inevitably typecast and confused with their characters, but that’s another story.]

MMM showings turned into gatherings for all the weirdos who identified with the movie on some level. Talking about the movie and celebrating favorite characters, fans naturally started yelling at the screen, dressing up for the showings, and acting out the whole thing in front of the screen. Over time, people formed casts to do regular showings, and an audience participation script was codified.

In the present day, though MMM is decades old, it remains popular for all the reasons it originally sparked interest. MMM now has a reputation of being a rite of passage that enhances one’s cred, especially if one is gay, lesbian, bi, poly, trans, genderqueer, intersex, non-binary, or otherwise non-conforming in sexuality and/or gender identity and/or gender expression. Given the intensely personal nostalgic admiration with which this crowd views MMM, you’d think it was an exemplar of sympathetic, inclusive representation, intersectional feminism, and general awesomeness. Let’s just say it’s not, which gives scholars endless fuel for their academic analyses of the film and its subculture.

I should also mention that the ending of MMM has prompted much controversy. It’s a tragedy on the scale of Romeo and Juliet. It’s the ol’ homophobic Kill the Queer stereotype write large. It condemns Mazzy by killing hir off. It idolizes Mazzy by making hir a star. Cyn and the Dude are totally getting together at the end, and this is awesome. Cyn and the Dude are totally getting together at the end, and this is some heteronormative cop-out. Mazzy is dead, having become a metaphorical star. Mazzy is not dead, because the song ze sings over the credits proves that ze survived the crash and became an actual star like hir parents. Let’s argue till the cows come home!

My favorite prefix is trans-.

My favorite prefix is trans-. published on No Comments on My favorite prefix is trans-.

I cannot tell where my interest in the prefix began. Perhaps in Transylvania, arguably translatable as “Through-the-Woods-Land,” which is the most fairy-talish and coolest and vampiric place name ever. Or maybe it started with transformation and the magical protean changes it connoted. In any event, the beauty of translucency and its glass-like clarity certainly made me love it further.

It certainly continued in translation, a literal bringing across of words and communication from one language to the other that I’ve always pictured as a ferry across a river. When I learned about transcendence, which I envision as an airplane rising in a perfect steady angle across the sky, closer and closer to cruising altitude, I liked it even more.

Despite my dislike for transgression, which I associate with stuffy, verbose academic analyses of behavior outside of the societal norms, my interest in trans- only increased, especially because it contributes to really cool words like transducer. As for transducer, I learned this word from The Rocky Horror Picture Show [line from Planet Schmanet Janet: “The transducer will seduce ya!”] and never bothered looking it up until now. My loss, as it’s an amazing word that means “an electronic device that converts energy from one form to another.” Microphones and speakers are transducers, as are thermometers and antennae, even LEDs and incandescent light bulbs — so, in other words, all the sorts of items from which people would build prop supercomputers for sci-fi movies. [“What the hell is that mess of blinking lights and screens and speakers and dials and gauges?” “Oh, that’s just the Transductomatron.”] Transducers: they’re everywhere! [Not to be confused with traducers, who I really hope are not everywhere!]

And, of course, I think it’s stupendous that the prefix became a word all by itself: trans.

I kind of want to go to a forested area of Transylvania just so I can write in Latin, Eo trans sylvaniam Transylvania!, which is, of course, I am going through the woods in Transylvania!, or possibly, I am transylvanianing in Transylvania!, although that sounds kinda transgressive.

Bulge morph — fairly easy, right?

Bulge morph — fairly easy, right? published on No Comments on Bulge morph — fairly easy, right?

Just stick a D-form on the crotch, kind of between the legs, pull out and down, and inflate a bit.

Hmmm, apparently not. I thought I had successfully made one for G3F in about three minutes. However, close examination [i.e., I compared it to someone else’s] reveals that the deformation is occurring too high on the pubis. Fortunately, I saved the D-form preset, because I’m a genius like that, so, when I get home, I can move it a little more down and under and redo.

And yea verily G3F shall have multiple bulge morphs — because it’s 2016, people, and I know I can’t be the only one who wants them.

Time flies when you’re dressing up: digital models, clothing, body shapes, etc.

Time flies when you’re dressing up: digital models, clothing, body shapes, etc. published on No Comments on Time flies when you’re dressing up: digital models, clothing, body shapes, etc.

About eight and a half years ago, I failed spectacularly in my attempts to find mainstream gay or lesbian content, specifically poses, for digital models. I was also seriously pissed by my inability to put clothes designed for one figure on another figure.

 

Eight and a half years later, gay and lesbian poses have appeared slightly in mainstream markets like Renderosity and heavily in porno markets like Renderotica. The autofit function in Daz Studio 3+, and/or the Clothing Room in Poser Pro 10+, and/or PhilC’s Wardrobe Wizard, and/or Evil Innocence’s CrossDresser [okay, now it’s XD 4, to be cooler, I guess] allow users to fit almost all clothing items on different figures, though special things like therianthropic parts remain a challenge. I guess I can say that one of my greatest sources of digital frustration has disappeared.

 

Of course, I have a new one: clothing fit across the breast. Daz’ autofit does pretty good work in clothing conversion, but it can’t handle the pectoral area well. Conversion of clothing for prominent breasts to clothing for minimal breasts = weird peaks where the breasts used to be. Conversion from clothing for minimal breasts to clothing for prominent breasts = shrink-wrap effect with no realistic draping. Conversion from clothing from figure A for prominent breasts to clothing for figure B with same = shrink wrap and no draping.

Of course, there are the most problems with the two types of body shapes I most use: a) flat, minimal breasts [e.g., Jareth] and b) prominent, fat, sagging breasts [e.g., me and pretty much everyone else]. In the first case, rippling and puckering develops around the pectorals as autofit tries to flatten out all that “boob geometry,” as it’s referred to on the Daz forums. In the second case, autofit tucks the clothing up under the breasts and refuses to drape it. This is why vendors make a small fortune in products like “breast fixers,” “fit control,” and other suites of projection morphs to forcibly shove the mesh into a more realistic position. And, of course, prominent breasts [and fats] distort clothing meshes and textures unrealistically.

Thus, besides HAIR, one of my prime motivations for learning how to model is BOOBS. Specifically, I want to make some basic clothing that accommodates prominent, fat, sagging breasts without shrink wrap. I also want to make some basic clothing for same that doesn’t get stuck up under the breasts. Of course, I haven’t seen anyone else achieve this, but I also haven’t seen anyone with the same level of frustration as me. And frustration is a powerful motivator.

Jareth on Genesis 3 Female base

Jareth on Genesis 3 Female base published on No Comments on Jareth on Genesis 3 Female base

Tired of waiting for Dimension3D’s GenX3 to automate the process of transferring morphs, I decided to take another stab at approximating Jareth on the G3F base. I’ve been working on moving him manually to G3F for several months, with unsatisfactory results.

 

Last night I finally figured out how to move him over without distortion — or, more precisely, the chief components of his head morph.

  1. On G2F, I added to Favorites the head morphs that his likeness depends on: my RedPlanetArachnid [young David Bowie] and Genesis Head [because RedPlanetArachnid was developed for a Genesis 1 base].
  2. I then used the Transfer Utility.
    Source: G2F. Shape: Default.
    Target: G3F. Shape [and here’s the key]: Genesis 2 Female Head from Slosh’s Genesis 2 Legacies.
    Slosh’s Genesis 2 Female base morph included in this series provides much more accuracy than you would get if you used either the G3F clone shape under Source Shape or the G2F clone shape under Target Shape. As many people have noted, the G3F clone for G2F and the G2F clone for G3F do not follow the shapes that they clone exactly; distortion becomes especially egregious around the eyes.
  3. After transferring the morphs over to G3F, I did the usual rigging adjustment and ERC freeze. For some reason, even though I was just transferring head morphs, I had to leave pretty much everything selected in terms of bones to adjust and influencing face groups. For the first iteration, though, I unchecked Left Squint Inner and Right Squint Inner, as those bones tend to move way out of line during rigging adjustment. Then I did a second rigging adjustment with only those bones selected.
  4. I defined limits, colors, names, paths, etc. for the morphs and saved as usual.

After all that, I then loaded a new G3F and dialed in G2F Head 100%, Genesis head 50%, and RedPlanetArachnid 75%. Using the G2F version as reference, I used my G3F Morphalynn morph package, Dogz’ 200+ G3F Head and Face Morphs, and Daz’ G3F body morphs to reproduce the salient features of his shape. Anyway, here’s a full body shot. Needs a little more adjustment, especially the transfer of some age morphs and a Flatten Chest morph, but I think I’m finally ready to use him in digital photostories!

 

Continue reading Jareth on Genesis 3 Female base

Lupita Nyong’o, embodiment, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Lupita Nyong’o, embodiment, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens published on No Comments on Lupita Nyong’o, embodiment, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I recently held forward at length about the frustrating representations of women and/or people of colors other than pasty in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. One of my criticisms discussed Lupita Nyong’o’s character, the mocapped Maz Kanata. I interpreted it as a literal erasure of a Mexican-Kenyan woman and thus a very problematic maneuver with imperialist, colonialist overtones.

A December 13th, 2015, Buzzfeed interview with Nyong’o complicates my interpretation. Nyong’o explains her choice of the mocapped Force Awakens role as a calculated assertion of agency in a racially charged environment. Having recently won an Oscar for her performance as the enslaved [and much abused] woman Patsy in 12 Years a Slave, Nyong’o made the following remark:

“12 Years a Slave was a film that was so much about my body, and Star Wars is not at all. There was a liberation in being able to play in a medium where my body was not the thing in question,” Nyong’o told BuzzFeed News. “The acting challenge I was looking for was completely different, a complete departure from 12 Years a Slave.”

Let’s break her comment down a bit. 12 Years a Slave film centralizes the brutal violence to which black bodies are subjected in the form of kidnapping, rape, assault, and other kinds of torture. Thus Nyong’o’s performance as Patsey contains a crapload of racialized and sexualized suffering that the character experiences precisely because she is poor, black, and female. Patsey’s characterization thus becomes hyperfocused on her body, especially when she is hurt and violated. Nyong’o’s comment that it’s freeing to play a character like Maz Kanata where “my body was not the thing in question” implies that her body was “the thing in question” in 12 Years a Slave. Notice how she talks about her body as a “thing,” rather than part of herself. This leads me to suspect that she found her performance as Patsey objectifying to some degree, thus exhausting and disturbing. I think “acting challenge” underestimates the significant physical and emotional difficulties Nyong’o experienced in 12 Years a Slave.

Nyong’o’s description of the role of Maz as a “liberation” suggests that she found it a respite from the role of Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. Patsey is an enslaved woman who experiences physical, mental, and emotional abuse, all with the ultimate effect of making her blackness, femaleness, and enslavement the most salient things about her. In contrast, Maz Kanata is neither black, nor enslaved, nor a victim of onscreen abuse. As an old, wise character and owner of a popular intergalactic watering hole, she has a certain agency and independence denied to Patsey. Nyong’o acknowledges an “acting challenge” in doing a mocap performance for the first time, but I’d hazard a guess that, absent the history of degradation and mistreatment weighing down the role of Patsey, the role of Maz was less emotionally and physically taxing.

 

Nyong’o obviously does not see her portrayal of Maz Kanata as a racist effacement of a woman of color. In fact, she sees it as an escape from and alternative to the race-obsessed, body-obsessed, and emotionally exhausting work she did for the role of Patsey. So who am I, a white person, to insist that there’s racism and sexism at play here?

Well, there is. Nyong’o, as a woman of color, experiences a double bind created explicitly by the confluence of racism, sexism, classism, etc., in the movie industry. She can play a role like that of Patsey, which foregrounds her blackness, femaleness, and enslavement, and win awards, but suffer emotional and physical aftershocks. When she seeks to avoid physical and mental stress by playing a role like that of Maz Kanata, which is much less strongly determined by race, sex, and even physicality, then people go, “What the hell? Black erasure!” While Patsey and Maz do not represent all the roles available to Nyong’o, they do represent the ways in which racism, sexism, and classism limit her options. Cultural expectations of women of color reward highly sexualized, racialized, classed roles like that of Patsey and look down on less sexualized, racialized, classed roles like that of Maz. The variety of roles available to women of color may be slightly larger than it was 75 years ago, but the racism, sexism, and classism of the movie industry still literally reward them for playing poor, abused, enslaved victims of violence.

Digital likeness attempt 2: Adam Driver

Digital likeness attempt 2: Adam Driver published on No Comments on Digital likeness attempt 2: Adam Driver

…Seems to be going well for a few hours’ worth of work, all with free morphs, either DieTrying’s 182 for V4, ported to Gen1 by SickleYield, or my Morphalynn G3F set ported to Gen1 by me. Continue reading Digital likeness attempt 2: Adam Driver

Wait…that was supposed to be a smart sci-fi film? or, Ex Machina and Smug White People Feminism

Wait…that was supposed to be a smart sci-fi film? or, Ex Machina and Smug White People Feminism published on No Comments on Wait…that was supposed to be a smart sci-fi film? or, Ex Machina and Smug White People Feminism

I have no idea where all the reviewers of Ex Machina get off, thinking that it’s some novel, philosophical, highly intelligent piece of sci-fi movie making. It’s not. The first two thirds contain the insufferable misogynist bloviation of two straight cis dudes, objectifying all the female characters in the most blatant, unoriginal, and uninteresting ways possible. I mean, seriously — one of the robots, Kiyoko, is so objectified that she has no language, thus making her the ultimate silent, submissive, docile Asian woman stereotype. The last third of the movie contains the supposedly narratively inevitable consequences of their assholery, in which the women become scary and murder the dudes. Then all the women of color either die or sacrifice themselves so that the white woman can escape to her dreams of white-collar big-city life, and it’s all so tedious and sludgy and dull…except for the hotel where it was filmed. That was pretty. But aesthetically pleasing scenery cannot compensate for raging misogyny and racism.

This enraged critique of Ex Machina owes much to Sharon Chang’s incisive analysis, which goes into much more depth.

EDIT: And here’s a perfect example of someone analyzing queer subtexts in Ex Machina and completely failing to call out the racism and sexism. Sorry, Jeffrey Bloomer. I really don’t think that a white woman reconstituting herself from the bodies of women of color is merely a moment of queer transformation that should be celebrated. It’s also a reification of an ongoing colonialist project that should be acknowledged and critiqued.

We can be sad that an abusive person is dead, and we can also deplore the abuse.

We can be sad that an abusive person is dead, and we can also deplore the abuse. published on No Comments on We can be sad that an abusive person is dead, and we can also deplore the abuse.

Aida Manduley writes a nuanced article that addresses the fact that, yes, David Bowie was famous and talented and significant to a lot of people and, yes, he abused his power. Her title, “David Bowie: Time to Mourn or Call Out?,” is actually misleading. It suggests that the correct response is one or the other, but, as one reads Manduley’s analysis, one realizes that she is not proposing such a binary dilemma, but critiquing it. We can do both at once, she argues; in fact, she goes so far to say that doing both is the humanest, most compassionate response. In mourning, we respect the significant effect that David Bowie and his art had on people, while, in calling out, we respect those people that he disrespected and harmed. If we can hold a myriad of emotions in our minds, then we can respect the complexity of human experience.

Digital robo-dolls and stuff

Digital robo-dolls and stuff published on No Comments on Digital robo-dolls and stuff

Samildanach’s clown robot dolls Black & White are on clearance at Rendo. Time to get ’em!

 

Also at Rendo, Edart3D’s Pin-up Gynoid Phase 1 implies the future existence of later phases, so I’m keeping an eye on this vendor. As a bonus, this person also does accurate [from what I can tell] renders of outmoded technology in a way that I haven’t seen anyone else do.

 

Speaking of clearance and also of gynoids, Traveler’s Technophilia Retro Gynoids are in the RDNA discount bin.

And, in recent purchases, I acquired Mannequin for G3F last night. Much to my delight, the geografted head follows head morphs and expressions somewhat, allowing for rough likenesses. Woo hoo!

I also made some sorely needed disturbing overlays for the blank head. Below is one of them. Continue reading Digital robo-dolls and stuff

“Does it make a realistic digital human model look like an inanimate humanoid object? I’ll take it!”

“Does it make a realistic digital human model look like an inanimate humanoid object? I’ll take it!” published on No Comments on “Does it make a realistic digital human model look like an inanimate humanoid object? I’ll take it!”

Today’s digital models of people — I’m thinking primarily of Daz Studio 3D’s Genesis 3 Female and Male — are designed for maximum realism, mimic human anatomy, flexibility, skin translucency, muscle flexion, facial expressiveness, fat distribution, etc., as much as current computing technology allows. While I benefit from all the advanced features of such models, I spend much of my time dehumanizing them and objectifying them as dolls, puppets, mannequins, robots, cyborgs, statues, and inanimate humanoid objects.

I don’t feel like I collect actual dolls, preferring instead to refer to them as small populations. But I definitely collect digital dolls, to the extent that I have a whole category in my database of digital content devoted to them [and a separate one for robots]. Thus I am happy to see Mannequin for G3F released at Daz today. I’m especially interested in the geografted stylized head [effaced face :p ], but it would be infinitely cooler as geografted patches to seal up the eyes and mouth of any model, rather than a whole new head to be swapped out. But I can work with it — I wonder if I can make the geografted head a conforming figure for G2F? Anyway, I think the Mannequin needs some sinister textures…

 

Overrated persons, parts 2 through n [where n is a very large number]

Overrated persons, parts 2 through n [where n is a very large number] published on No Comments on Overrated persons, parts 2 through n [where n is a very large number]
  • Ricky Gervais. Yeah, it’s so entertaining when you punch down, you self-important gasbag.  Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean you have to spread it around. Also being offensive doesn’t mean that you’re successful. It just means that you’re offensive.
  • Robert Frost. The inclusion of Frost may be a personal choice based on my alma mater, Middlebury College, where Frost was considered all that and a bag of chips because he taught at the Bread Loaf School of English for 42 years. Yes, he was the poet laureate of Vermont, and yes, he wrote regional poems in a compelling style that married nineteenth century formalism and new vernacular, and, yes, some of it is even good, but, no, he is not the greatest thing since sliced bread.
  • William Shakespeare. Elizabethan era fan fictioneer extraordinaire and floating signifier, about whom we know very little except, for some reason, English-speaking people like to think he’s like the pinnacle of their cultural output. That’s a depressingly narrow view of English-speaking culture.
  • David Bowie. Anyone who goes on and on like he invented ambiguous gender presentation is really not paying attention.
  • Straight white cis non-disabled dudes. All of them ever, especially if they’re already famous for doing something supposedly noteworthy.

People who are grossly overrated, part 1: Quentin Tarantino

People who are grossly overrated, part 1: Quentin Tarantino published on No Comments on People who are grossly overrated, part 1: Quentin Tarantino

I have no idea why people think he’s so great. He has bamboozled great numbers of individuals into thinking he’s an edgy, creative, incisive filmmaker because he legitimizes his derivative, sexist, racist crap with callbacks to movies by straight, white, cis dudes of the past. Nope — sorry — it doesn’t take much talent to hold the majority of the world’s people in contempt. I am severely underimpressed.

Dolls in various states of progress and what I need to do

Dolls in various states of progress and what I need to do published on No Comments on Dolls in various states of progress and what I need to do

For BJDs who bug me:

  • Delmar needs faceup, hair, restringing, and tail. Working on faceup.
  • Fritillaria needs faceup, eyes, hair, outfit.
  • Mellifer needs a complete do-over. Stalled.
  • Never the Less needs faceup, hair, clothes. Working on head.
  • Polly needs a seat belt. Stalled.
  • Thalia needs a shirt. Stalled.
  • Timonium needs a new wig cap and new hair. Working on wig cap.
  • Touralyn needs a new body and clothes. Body in progress.

For Zombieville denizens:

  • Doctor Z needs her own body with appropriate neck. Ordered!
  • Sylvia needs a new fat body. Need to look in raw dolls bin.

 

 

Salad ideas

Salad ideas published on No Comments on Salad ideas

Cleveland Clinic’s overview of really cool, nutritious, and tasty salad assembly is mostly my kind of document. It suggests alternatives to traditional salad ingredients and explains their benefits. It also explains some of the things to watch out for in traditional ingredients, and it doesn’t say anything about losing weight.

 

I now have some ideas for interesting salad ingredients based on this list…

 

  • Kale mix
  • Peapods
  • Soybeans
  • Red onion
  • Beets
  • Avocado
  • Chicken
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Raw sweet potatoes
  • Olive oil and balsamic for dressing

 

 

I now want to make a salad with kale, peapods, soybeans, hard-boiled eggs, raw sweet potatoes, and balsamic and olive oil for dressing.

 

Notable ingredients to use in greater moderation than I have been include the following:

 

 

  • Cheese
  • Peas
  • Croutons
  • Raisins
  • Cashews

Recaito = “reh cah EE toe” not “reh KAY toe”

Recaito = “reh cah EE toe” not “reh KAY toe” published on No Comments on Recaito = “reh cah EE toe” not “reh KAY toe”

Recaito, the star of Tarah’s chili recipe, is apparently four syllables, not three. It’s also pronounced “reh cah EE toe,” not “reh KAY toe.” No wonder the worker in Shaw’s gave me a really weird look when I asked for “reh KAY toe.” I’m going to blame my mispronunciation on a) the fact that I’ve never heard this word spoken aloud, b) the fact that I don’t know any Spanish, and c) the proliferation of names like Caitlyn [“cah EET lin”? :p].

Tarah’s chicken chili revised

Tarah’s chicken chili revised published on No Comments on Tarah’s chicken chili revised

Tonight’s permutation of the recipe follows:

 

2 chicken breasts, cooked in recaito
2 1/2 med carrots, shredded
2 1/2 tbsp recaito
honey [1 tsp?]
16 oz salsa verde
1 envelope Herbox
1 cup water
29 oz cannellini, rinsed and drained
16 oz red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 white onion, chopped
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp + 1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp cilantro
1/2 head garlic, minced
salt
frozen peas
frozen corn

Thaw chicken breasts. Slash. Place in glass baking dish in two layers of tin foil. Moosh recaito into the slashes and over the top of the breasts — a total of 1 to 2 tbsp. Wrap tin foil around them so they are covered. Cook at 450 degrees for at least 25 minutes. Shred.

Put all the ingredients except frozen veggies together in slow cooker. Fill the rest of the space in slow cooker with peas and corn. Stir thoroughly, making sure recaito and spices distribute evenly through ingredients. Cook on low for at least 8 hours. Check at least once to stir and make sure there’s enough liquid.

Notes:

Cooking chicken in recaito is my attempt to make it more flavorful. Also recaito seems like garlic — you can pretty much never have enough. There’s a lot of recaito in this version…

Carrots added per my previous notes.

Amount of honey was not measured — just enough to cut any heartburn-producing acidity.

I’m not a particular connoisseur of beans, but I’ll see if the cannellini make a difference in the taste.

White onions are nice and crunchy and juicy — good cooking onions!

Double the cumin from last time because cumin is the shit!

Increased amount of paprika, just for the hell of it.

Whoops, forgot the chili powder. I don’t feel like it was doing anything important last time, though.

Plus cilantro because cilantro is the shit, although not the the extent of garlic and cumin.

Salt to tie things together and highlight the flavors. I tend to skip salt, assuming that there’s enough sodium in everything else, but a judiciously applied amount of salt can have significant and subtle effects on the cohesion of a dish. Also it just tastes good, even if it is not as much of the shit as garlic, cumin, recaito, cilantro, etc.

The frozen veggies bulk up the chili and make it a one-pot meal, very appealing for us lazy people.

I’ve discovered that I follow recipes best when I discover why ingredients are being used. For example, if I read my recipe above and saw honey and salt, I would immediately assume that the two would cancel each other out. Thus I wouldn’t see the point of either, and I’d skip both. Knowing that honey mollifies the acidity of the salsa, while salt highlights other flavors, gives me the reason I need to add these ingredients. Also once I know the reasons for ingredients, I can get to the fun part — substitutions and experiments. Obviously, though, I clearly do substitutions and experiments even if I don’t know why certain ingredients are included.

December doll update: Novella gets new faceup and half a new body

December doll update: Novella gets new faceup and half a new body published on No Comments on December doll update: Novella gets new faceup and half a new body

In other news, I finished a body mod on Novella and got her back from the faceup artist with a new paint job!Continue reading December doll update: Novella gets new faceup and half a new body

December doll update 2: Fritillaria!!!!!

December doll update 2: Fritillaria!!!!! published on No Comments on December doll update 2: Fritillaria!!!!!

Fritillaria, my Withdoll Adriana, arrived on December 19th! Well packaged and very tightly strung, she poses solidly and stands on her own right out of the box. In fact, she was so tightly strung that her wrist S hooks and I had a fight; they drew blood when I was swapping out her hands. [You know you’re a hardcore doll enthusiast when you bleed in the course of a doll project, wipe it up casually, and consider your project officially christened. :p ] Nice creamy “cream white” resin with even coloration, no bubbles, no seam lines. Overall, I had a good experience with Withdoll, though I had to poke them when two months passed and they had yet to ship, despite promising that they would. A few pictures below.Continue reading December doll update 2: Fritillaria!!!!!

December doll update 1: more dolls for dolls

December doll update 1: more dolls for dolls published on No Comments on December doll update 1: more dolls for dolls

I’m cleaning off my memory card before the end of the year, and I have quite a few photos on it that I have yet to blog. Les voici.

At Vermont Doll Lovers on December 12th, I purchased some gachapon minifigures from Lyrajean. They represent cutesy versions of some Japanese airline’s stewards’ uniforms throughout the airline’s history. Lyrajean, who picked them up in Japan a few years ago, says that they came as promotional items with different kinds of soda. [I think she was buying the soda just for the minifigs…] Continue reading December doll update 1: more dolls for dolls

The Force Awakens and Smug White People Feminism

The Force Awakens and Smug White People Feminism published on No Comments on The Force Awakens and Smug White People Feminism

While many media outlets are covering Star Wars: The Force Awakens with glee, one reason for the excitement is the way in which female characters and characters of color are treated. Rey, a white woman, seizes a primary protagonist role, kicks general ass, fights her first cousin to a standstill despite no formal training, avoids a metal bikini, and [surprisingly enough] doesn’t get railroaded into a bullshit romantic subplot with Finn — awesome! Finn, a black man, also features as a protagonist and gets to be goofy and heroic, and no one makes a stink about his skin color — yippee! Poe, an arguable secondary protagonist and brown man, is a totally hot dude whose origins on a Guatemela-like planet seem to pay homage to the actor’s own nationality — nifty! Princess Leia, a white woman, is a general now, leading the Resistance — finally! Captain Phasma, a white woman, intimidates everyone, also avoiding metal bikini — aw yes! Maz Kanata, an alien voiced by a black woman, does a wise, wry, insightful female Yoda impression — woo hoo! There’s a female Resistance pilot [I think she’s Asian] with lines — and she doesn’t die — party party! There are actual women, including Asian women, African women, and women of color, in bit parts and extra roles — sometimes they too have lines, and sometimes they don’t die either — ZOMG1111! From the way that general media interpretations are reacting, you’d think that this film was a historic landmark in progressive portrayals of women and/or people of color.

 

Mmmm…nah. It’s only a stupendous achievement if you’re looking at it from the limited lens of Smug White People Feminism. Otherwise, it’s not.

 

You see — if we were really going to have a super cool Force Awakens with novel and progressive treatment of its female characters and/or characters of colors other than pasty, the movie would address these aspects of characters’ identities in their stories. I do not care how irrelevant one’s sex and/or one’s race are supposed to be in the sci-fi universe of Star Wars; in the present day, on this planet, these highly salient characteristics inflect pretty much every aspect of one’s daily existence. Thus, The Force Awakens, as a movie that was created in the present day, on this planet, must reckon with the cultural truths that sex and race significantly define our lives.

What might such a realistic consideration of the characters’ sex and race look like in The Force Awakens? Perhaps Rey, having heard so many “myths” about the predominantly dude-based Jedis, could have some serious questions about her ability to use the Force like them. Maybe Finn’s revulsion at serving the Empire could include his unwillingness to support an overwhelmingly Aryan elite that sends brown people to do their dirty work. Maybe Maz could attribute her watering hole’s thousand-year tenure to the toughness she’s had to develop as a single woman running a huge business. Maybe the whole movie could stop gendering its primary conflict as “sons and their extremely boring Daddy Issues” and reconceptualize it as “people and their struggles with legacies, broadly construed.” In any event, a truly insightful treatment of sex and race in The Force Awakens would have the characters actively discussing such salient traits from which many aspects of their identities arise.

 

So…does The Force Awakens contain any self-consciousness for its characters about the sex they were assigned, the color of their skin, how these traits are negotiated in their cultures of origin, anything, anything? No! Of course not! Then we wouldn’t have enough time for Daddy Issues Part VII: A Lost Hope!

 

Seriously, though, The Force Awakens tries to update itself for modern liberal interests, but its treatment of female characters and characters of color shows the update as superficial at best. For example, let’s look at Captain Phasma, storm trooper leader of Finn’s regiment [and apparently the only woman in any position of power anywhere in the Empire]. Her character was originally male, explains Force Awakens cowriter Lawrence Kasden, but then was changed to female at the last minute. The Vulture article in which Kasden was quoted strongly implies that this change occurred in response to fan disappointment with the lack of women in the movie. The ecstasy with which actress Gwendoline Christie, who plays Phasma, receives this information — “…For that evolved thinking to be in a Star Wars movie, I think people love that!” [also from the Vulture article] — seems to represent the general joy with which The Force Awakens’ “evolved thinking” has been received.

 

A closer look at the example of Captain Phasma, however, reveals absolutely no “evolved thinking” of any kind. As Kasden explains, she was originally thought up as a man, but then her sex was swapped out as almost an afterthought. In other words, nothing changed about the character except that she would be played by a woman, rather than a man. In practice, this means that no one in the movie notices the novelty of a female storm trooper captain, despite the fact that they’ve been male in all previous films. I’m not asking for a soliloquy in which Captain Phasma reveals that she has impostor syndrome [although it could be really cool if done right, which it wouldn’t be]; I’m just saying that a truly progressive and insightful portrayal of a female character doesn’t just slot her in where a male character would have been. Instead, it considers how her experience, perspective, and personality are shaped because she’s a woman and, more specifically, a woman in a society dominated by men. In the same way, Finn’s story does him no justice as a black man because it refuses to let him engage with the reality of being a black man in a society dominated by people who look like the upper echelons of the Empire.

For further proof of lack of “evolved thinking,” let’s consider the example of Maz Kanata. Her character, who presides over a bar where characters go to get Luke’s light saber, is a small, four-fingered, hairless orange humanoid with super-powered glasses. She is played by actress Lupita Nyong’o, who identifies as Mexican-Kenyan. She has also won an Oscar, as well as acclaim in 2014 as one of People’s Most Beautiful. In other words, she’s an extremely skilled and talented performer who considers her embodiment as a brown-skinned woman with kinky hair important. In fact, in her commentary on being chosen as one of the magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful, Nyong’o implicitly contrasts her own features with the “light skin and long, flowing, straight hair” that formed her template for attractiveness when she was growing up. Force Awakens, take note — Nyong’o’s self-consciousness is just one example of the way that sex and race impinge on one’s self-concept and development.

The Force Awakens may give a brown woman a strong, crucial role, but that doesn’t mean it’s any good. In fact, it’s pretty racist. This Entertainment Weekly article points out why: “Maz is one of the few creatures in her court who is not a real-life, practical effect…” In other words, there were plenty of people and puppets in Maz’s set, but the director specifically decided to omit Nyong’o bodily and entirely, her presence only available as mediated through motion capture. While Nyong’o is performing in the movie, she’s not performing as a brown-skinned woman with kinky hair. She is instead performing as an orange-skinned alien with [unlike most of the bar patrons] no tangible presence. The Force Awakens literally disembodies Nyong’o, whose body and beauty are inseparable from her personality, identity, acting style and success, and public reception. The long [white, male] colonial project of reducing, distorting, and suppressing the [brown, female] Other continues unabated.

Anyone who thinks that The Force Awakens is an amazing win for representation of women and/or people of color should temper this analysis with two observations. First, representation is more than just a superficial numbers game. Authentic representation requires an engagement with the ways in which sex and race affect one’s life, especially if one isn’t white and/or male. Unfortunately, The Force Awakens lacks such character development. Second, we can’t just take as our measure of success, for example, Lupita Nyong’o playing a character who actually does stuff and performs integral, interesting plot functions. We have to examine how such a character is portrayed. And, if she’s not only deprived of a backstory that addresses her experiences as a person of a non-dominant sex and non-dominant race, but she’s also deprived of physical, bodily presence, then we have to recognize the sexism and racism at play here. Then we have to call it out, criticize it, and work against it, ’cause that’s the only way anything will change.

P.S. I actually really liked this movie.

It’s “Let’s complain about Hot Toys!” time again.

It’s “Let’s complain about Hot Toys!” time again. published on No Comments on It’s “Let’s complain about Hot Toys!” time again.

Hot Toys has a real hard time doing likenesses of women, which makes me downgrade their vaunted verisimilitude. Who cares if they can do decent dudes if they can’t be arsed to bring the same accuracy and realism to their women?

Case in point: There’s something off about their attempt at Daisy Ridley as Rey. Pictures show that she has a squarer jaw, narrower face, narrower eyes, more angularity around her lips, and just overall more character. Also none of the pictures of the doll show her from the rear, so we can’t see if her hair has been accurately duplicated.

Meanwhile, over on the other branch of the family tree, I have no idea how the likeness of Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is because his mask won’t come off! [And we know how I feel about that… >_> ] I can understand Captain Phasma or your standard issue storm troopers with molded-on masks, but c’mon, HT — Darth Vader Jr. Jr. dispenses with the mask for key segments of the movie. In fact, I’d argue that the whole point of this character is the tension between the mask and the face underneath, but I guess the doll doesn’t have tension because he doesn’t even have a face. Did they just not want to do a portrait? Why not? Driver’s distinctive features would probably make for a really cool portrait.

 

Okay, guess we’ll have to wait to see who they reissue for the sequel and the sequel to the sequel.  It is my fond hope that Captain Phasma starts running around without her helmet on and maybe even has a last, desperate, sweaty, maskless duel [like Rey and Kylo] so we can get a doll of her with an actual face. If she doesn’t, I’m at least holding out for her continual treatment as a non-sexualized individual and eventual survival — she already has to deal with enough crap as the token Nazi Empire woman with any significant lines. I do not want her to end up like Irina Spalko in Indiana Jones and the Unnecessarily Confusing Jump Cuts. [Seriously, could anyone follow the chase scenes in that movie?] If the choice ends up being between a) permanent masked badassery and b) unmasked sexualization [which it probably will end up being], I vote for a).

 

Okay, well, I guess I had more feelings about that than I expected. :p

First version of Tarah’s chicken chili, as interpreted by Modern Wizard

First version of Tarah’s chicken chili, as interpreted by Modern Wizard published on No Comments on First version of Tarah’s chicken chili, as interpreted by Modern Wizard

Inspired by Tarah’s green chicken chili, I made my own version of the following:

2 chicken breasts, precooked and chopped
16 oz. frozen corn
14 oz. frozen peas
2 cloves elephant garlic, minced
1/3 head regular garlic, minced
1 packet Herbox
1 cup water
~16 oz. salsa verde [used Goya]
~30 oz. light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
~15 oz. dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, diced
2 tbsp. racaito [used Goya]
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. chili powder

Prepare individual ingredients as directed in ingredients list. Put everything in slow cooker; stir thoroughly. Cook on high for a while, stirring sporadically.

Notes: As you can see by my adaptations from the original recipe, I told the peppers, both green and jalapeno, to fuck right off, as peppers give me indigestion. [Also I’m sure there are plenty of peppers in the salsa verde and racaito.] I also increased the amount of garlic and precooked the chicken. Tarah didn’t specify if the chicken was supposed to be cooked beforehand, but I just wanted to make sure. Frozen veggies make it more like a hearty stew!

Next time I make this [and there will be a next time, if only to improve on this attempt], I’m shredding a carrot or two in there. I may also add some honey if the chili proves particularly acidic.

More work on Never the Less and a mock-up

More work on Never the Less and a mock-up published on No Comments on More work on Never the Less and a mock-up

I filled in Never the Less’ original mouth slit, recarved it, sanded her forehead and eye sockets, then stuck her on Thalia’s body to get an idea of how she will look when done.

Conclusion: She’s going to look creepy when done. For some reason I find her inner mask, with its crude, mostly erased features, immensely disturbing. In contrast to her beautiful, eye-catching outer mask, her inner mask looks like a hasty fill-in job. She looks like her inner mask is engulfing her, especially because it adheres directly to her head. Fortunately I can hide it so I don’t have to look at it all the time.

Never the Less’ head looks way too small on Thalia’s body. I’m glad that I’m getting her a 60cm Angel of Dream girl body with small chest [ordered two days ago from Alice’s Collections!], with an overall slimmer build similar to Araminthe’s. Never the Less’ head already seems small because of her masks, which act as focal points and do not take up her entire head. Thus I think a more slightly built body will be more proportional.
Continue reading More work on Never the Less and a mock-up

Never the Less: probably some conservative BJD purist’s worst nightmare

Never the Less: probably some conservative BJD purist’s worst nightmare published on No Comments on Never the Less: probably some conservative BJD purist’s worst nightmare

Because I use permanent marker and colored pencils on my BJDs, hold them together with hot glue and swears, modify them with a hacksaw, and regularly take them outside in the sun, all to make resin versions of characters with an, ahem, unique aesthetic sensibility, I suspect — no, in fact, I know — that my BJDs make certain conservative BJD purists revolt. They’re over there, meticulously layering subtly blended pastels on their limited edition dolls, only using imported Japanese sealant, keeping all their outfits fullset and pristine, and maintaining their investments in climate-controlled cases where the curtains are always drawn, and I’m over here, experimenting with enthusiasm, undeterred by lack of skill, splicing together REALLY LARGE ACTION FIGURES!!!

Anyway, I’ve been working on Never the Less’ head recently. Shocking pictures, guaranteed to give someone the vapors for the inelegant liberties taken with such expensive materials, follow. Continue reading Never the Less: probably some conservative BJD purist’s worst nightmare

Plots of favorite books in six words

Plots of favorite books in six words published on No Comments on Plots of favorite books in six words

Saw this on Facebook as a challenge for people to guess the title and author of books based on six-word summaries. In no particular order, here are some of my faves:

Anorexic city girl proves excruciatingly introspective. [Rebecca Josephs’ Early Disorder]

Clare escapes becoming Niall’s kinky doll. [Sarban’s Doll Maker]

Laura learns magic and rescues brother. [Margaret Mahy’s Changeover]

Dead lesbian seeks ingenues for dinner. [Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla]

Being royal makes growing up complicated. [Maria Gripe’s In The Time of the Bells]

Enemies bang each other into “love.” [This works for both Johanna Lindsey’s Warrior’s Woman and E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey.]

Alice keeps her cool amidst bullshit. [Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Underground and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There]

Self-absorbed language experiments obscure the plot. [Greer Gilman’s Moonwise]

And some short stories:

Princess knows she’s in a fairy tale. [A.S. Byatt’s Tale of the Eldest Princess]

Valley Girl totally kicks vampire butt. [Esther Friesner’s Blood-Ghoul of Scarsdale]

BJDs old and new

BJDs old and new published on No Comments on BJDs old and new

Just out of curiosity, I ran through the current list of BJDs who bug me [that is, BJDs that live in my universe, as opposed to fictional universes like Me and my Muses or Zombieville] to see who was oldest and who was newest. Judgment of their ages is complicated by the fact that several of them were inresinated in other forms before their current ones. Thus the characters may be old, though the doll forms representing them may be younger. This comparison of my BJDs’ ages calculates from their current inresinations only, though information about past forms is included in brackets.

This comparison also uses the date on which the doll arrived to me in the mail as its birthday, except in the case of hybrid dolls. For hybrids, I use the arrival date of the doll’s head as its birthday. The only exception to this is Polly, whose head, an Elfdoll Doona Kathlen faceplate, lay around, unused, until I saw Asleep Eidolon’s 1:6 scale mature mermaids and ordered one for her body. Because I made up the character only when I had the body, I count the arrival of the Asleep Eidolon body as Polly’s birthday.

So, from oldest to newest, here are the BJDs who bug me:

1. Sardonix: [Version 1 arrived January, 2005. Sold December, 2005.] Version 2 arrived January 24, 2007.

2. Araminthe: Arrived February 7, 2011.

3. Jujube: Arrived December, 2011.

4. Flower: Arrived March 19, 2012.

5. Mellifer: Arrived June 22, 2012.

6. Jareth: [Version 1 arrived February 9, 2006. Sold in summer, 2009.] Version 2 arrived October 15, 2012.

7. Timonium: Arrived February 27, 2013.

8. Yamarrah: Arrived July 13, 2013.

9. Polly: Arrived March, 2014.

10. Thalia: Arrived November 5, 2014.

11. Dorothy: [Version 1 arrived March, 2011. Sold August, 2012.] Version 2 arrived September 29, 2015.

12. Jeff: Arrived September 29, 2015.

13. Delmar: Arrived October 13, 2015.

14. Honorine: Arrived October, 2015.

15. Submit: [Version 1 arrived March, 2007. Sold May, 2007. Version 2 arrived November, 2007. Disassembled November, 2015.] Version 3 arrived November 9, 2015.

16. Never the Less: Arrived December, 2015.

17. Touralyn: Arrived December 12, 2015.

18. Fritillaria: Arrived December, 2015.

If calculated by age of characters, BJDs who bug me would be, in order from oldest to youngest: Jareth [of course!], Sardonix, Submit, Araminthe, Dorothy, Jujube, Flower, Mellifer, Timonium, Yamarrah, Polly, Thalia, Jeff, Delmar, Honorine, Never the Less, Touralyn, Fritillaria. If Jareth, a character who existed long before his BJD form, is excluded, the oldest character first inresinated as a BJD that bugs me is Sardonix. She’s also my oldest BJD by a long shot — soon approaching her 9th [!] birthday, while the next oldest, Araminthe, will only be 5 at the beginning of next year.

My current crop of BJDs who bug me does not reflect the entire length of my interest in this type of doll, though. I got my first, Zephque, a Customhouse Gene, in May, 2004 [and sold him in November, 2005]. My interest in BJDs thus goes back more than a decade.

I saw the queer coding and transmisogyny before I had the vocabulary to call it out.

I saw the queer coding and transmisogyny before I had the vocabulary to call it out. published on No Comments on I saw the queer coding and transmisogyny before I had the vocabulary to call it out.

Digging back through past blog entries, I came across a chat with author Alex Potter about the attractiveness of antagonist characters. I excerpted our thoughts in an entry with the subject line “Why villains are cool and gay villains even cooler.” In the chat, we clearly picked up on the characterization of many villains as evil and
attractive and queer. We focused less on their presentation as villainous and more on their irresistible and transgressive sexiness. We really liked them and agreed that they were pretty cool.

 

I see that I recognized queer coding back than — the clustering of evilness, sexiness, and queerness — even though I didn’t know the term. I also didn’t really recognize the negative connotations of queer coding. I was mostly happy just to have found characters that I thought were cool role models; I focused more on them being attractive and queer than on their villainy. I was so happy to have role models of any kind [finally, people in the media whose portrayals I could identify with!] that I didn’t think critically about how they were presented as evil because queer and failures because misogynistly presented as femme. I kind of skipped over the persistent link between, first, queerness and villainy and, second, queerness and transmisogyny. Of course, now I can look back and see how the queer coding and transmisogyny that I swallowed along with all my aspirational desire really messed things up, so blargh.

Tarah’s chicken chili recipe

Tarah’s chicken chili recipe published on No Comments on Tarah’s chicken chili recipe

From Tarah. I’m a little disturbed by the presence of jalapeno, but I think the addition of salsa verde and racaito is a genius maneuver!

 

1 med onion (valencia), chopped
1/2 lg jalapeño, seeded chopped
1 med green bell pepper, seeded chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 t salt
1 t flour
1 c. Chicken broth
1 jar (16 oz) salsa verde
2.3 lb chicken breasts
2 T racaito
2 cans cannellini beans
1 can small white beans
(1 T) cumin, paprika, chili/cajun powder. 1 T each (I had cajun, not chili and no paprika on hand – didn’t want to use smoked paprika, which I did have)

Saute flour, onion, peppers, garlic, and salt until tender (aromatic roux). Put all ingredients in crock pot 5-7 hours on low. Chicken can be shredded an hour before complete.

Do NOT use more chicken… less will make it soupier, if you like that; 2-2.5 lbs makes it super thick and easily reheatable with a bit of water.

Modern Wizard’s chili yet again

Modern Wizard’s chili yet again published on No Comments on Modern Wizard’s chili yet again

2 pounds ground beef
~32 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
~32 oz diced tomatoes with chilies and garlic
~16 oz tomato sauce
~16 oz salsa with garlic
2 grated carrots
1 big white onion, chopped
7 cloves fresh regular garlic, minced
1 1/2 heads roasted regular garlic
1 clove fresh elephant garlic, minced
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp chili powder
miscellaneous amounts of salt
miscellaneous amounts of grated cheese

Mix garlic in with beef; brown; drain.

Put all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook for about 4 hours on high.

Put grated cheese on the chili if you want.

I think I’ve finally hit on a good chili recipe. One of the keys is to put the garlic in with the beef so that it distributes its flavor into the meat, but does not get lost in all the rest of the ingredients. Another key is to let the salsa do the rest of the heavy lifting flavor-wise. Cayenne pepper and chili powder are just there for the burn. Another key is to add as much garlic as you can possibly stand, not just with the beef, but with the diced tomatoes and the salsa. The roasted garlic seems to punch up the fresh garlic, giving it a foundation so that the taste of the latter is more apparent.

In future iterations, I will not be using elephant garlic; it’s too mild, but I was just trying to get rid of it. Looks like the final garlic count will be 5 to 7 regular cloves and 1 head regular roasted. Maybe fewer fresh cloves. Dare I say that was almost too much garlic?! GASP! Hopefully the chili will mellow over time.

Chase Holfelder and Kurt Schneider do Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” in a minor key

Chase Holfelder and Kurt Schneider do Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” in a minor key published on No Comments on Chase Holfelder and Kurt Schneider do Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” in a minor key

As a result, I hate it 85% less than the original. The key change, the slowing of tempo, and the change from pop to smash make it much more enjoyable to listen to, as well as just all-around interesting. But it’s still a Christmas song, and I hate pretty much all Christmas songs, so it’s not a full rehabilitation.

 

That being said, I could totally get behind a serious metal version of We Three Kings — not an instrumental, as I’ve been finding on Youtube, but the actual song, with all the lyrics, including my favorite verse, which is pretty metal anyway:

 

Myrrh is mine

Its bitter perfume

Breathes a sign

Of gathering gloom

Sorrowing, sighing

Bleeding, dying

Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

Vermont Doll Lovers December meetup, 12/12/2015

Vermont Doll Lovers December meetup, 12/12/2015 published on No Comments on Vermont Doll Lovers December meetup, 12/12/2015

Araminthe, Honorine, Sardonix, and Submit went to VTDL today, along with a crapload of Christmas props. While there, I swapped a Lumedoll Arine for Touralyn, DragonGems’ second scratch-built BJD ever. Because I found a crack in her torso, Megan is redoing her body, so I actually came home with just her head. I did, however, get some photos of her hanging around Submit, the other 1:6 scale doll of mine in attendance. Pictures are on the VTDL blog, as usual.

I’m just over here watching Michael Jackson dance.

I’m just over here watching Michael Jackson dance. published on No Comments on I’m just over here watching Michael Jackson dance.

This is very hot. I am going to watch this many many many times on repeat. There’s also a song in there that’s not too bad to listen to…but damn — that individual can move. [A little concerned about the bruise-colored eyeshadow, though…]

You’re bad? Okay. You can call yourself anything you want — just do that pelvic thrust again!!!

I wonder if the jingling chains were just taped along with the singing or if they were put on a separate track that was added in later. In any case, they’re my favorite part of the song aside from Michael Jackson’s pelvic girdle dancing.

Facial hair cues categorization

Facial hair cues categorization published on No Comments on Facial hair cues categorization

That is what I learned from this article about a bearded woman. Bodily distribution of hair seems to be one of the most visible and salient characteristics upon which people make assumptions about someone’s gender identity. I have no profound observations on this subject, except to state that my personal experience, in which people have clocked me as a dude because of my shaven head, supports this.

 

In other news that no one except me cares about, my attitude toward facial hair has slowly shifted from general repugnance to almost one of neutrality. It’s not an automatic incitement of lust for me, but it’s not an instant buzzkill either. I’ve stopped caring violently about it, except in the following cases. 1) I don’t want any, thank you very much. 2) Soul spots and goatees are silly. 3) Lightning-shaped sideburns will always be hella cool!

My hair models receive some mild acclaim!

My hair models receive some mild acclaim! published on No Comments on My hair models receive some mild acclaim!

I started making freebie digital hairstyles last September. Using primarily PhilC’s Hair Designer [and a little bit of Alabone LLC’s Hair Shop beta, now folded into Head Shop], I constructed models that no one else was making. Hair Designer contains various hair figures, already rigged for Poser and UV mapped, such as single- and double-ponytail skullcaps, straight hair pieces, wavy hair pieces, and various accessories, from which to build one’s own creations. This is great for me, as I have not yet learned how to model anything from scratch. Thus my forays into digital hairstyling consist mostly of kitbashing elaborate updos from pre-existing pieces.

My first attempt at hair was Aliza, a multi-layered reproduction of Jareth’s ‘do in Labyrinth, still my most popular hair model to date. After a few Rococo pompadours and some more subdued modern-day styles, I took a hiatus of about 10 months, then turned my attention to historical women’s hairstyles. My first bundle was relatively simple, but my most recent release features 4 complicated, high-poly models with layers of cascading curls. I seem to have an affinity for complex styles!

My freebies have always received grateful thanks from people who bother to comment, but I consider that par for the course. The Poser/Daz community encourages and promotes creation of freely downloadable digital assets from anyone at any skill level. Every freebie garners accolades because downloaders not only like free stuff, but they also appreciate the generosity and skill of the freebie creators. Thus, while comments like “Thanks!” and “Nice!” certainly motivate me to continue making and offering my stuff, I consider them as general applause, not as specific compliments.

Public response has changed, though, with the issue of the 1820s G2F Hair Bundle 2. I first sensed that something was up when Arcadium69 commented on ShareCG, “It’s hard to believe your [sic] offering this kind of quality for free, but it’s very noble.” Over on the Daz boards, my post announcing the hairstyles actually generated some excited chatter, including jpb06t requesting 1870s styles [with pictures provided] and Tako Yakida asking when I would start making content for G3F. timmins.william posted some Iray renders of my freebies and, in a PM, even offered to do a promo render or two for me. SaphireWild had trouble loading the freebies, so the thread might offer some troubleshooting too.

I’m thrilled at the implications here. Arcadium69’s ShareCG comment indicates that they consider my efforts worth paying money for. Of course, I, being the critical creator, see many flaws in my freebies that I would never countenance if I had paid money for them, but I rejoice to hear that someone likes what I do enough to willingly part with money for it. jpb06t and Tako Yakida’s Daz board comments show they they like my models so much that they wish I would apply my skills to their chosen areas of interest [1870s hairdos and G3F respectively]. In summary, I have satisfied fans who eagerly await my next freebie. It’s like having avid readers of my photostories, only in a different realm!

Never the Less’ head

Never the Less’ head published on No Comments on Never the Less’ head

Decided last night to use Janvier Jett’s head for Never the Less, assuming that Never the Less’ mask scales well with it. Also decided that Never the Less’ creepy-deepy-doo face will be mostly built up with Aves Apoxie Sculpt, as sanding down is a pain in the rear.

Today’s chili recipe

Today’s chili recipe published on No Comments on Today’s chili recipe

Today’s version of slow cooker chili is an experiment in a) compensating for half the required amount of ground beef and b) cooking from memory. I was on the right track when I decided to put six grated carrots in for more bulk, but I don’t think the chili needs three cans of water; I think I was confusing it with the chicken tomato veggie stew. I hope I put in enough garlic… Find out tomorrow!!!

1 pound ground beef, browned in garlic and drained

2 cans [~30 oz] black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans [~30 oz] diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano

3 diced tomato cans’ worth of water

5 cloves regular garlic, minced

2 cloves elephant garlic, minced

1 big yellow onion, chopped

6 carrots, grated

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

2 1/2 tbsp chili powder

miscellaneous amounts of salt and parsley flakes

Mince garlic. Put in with beef; brown beef; drain. Put beef and all other ingredients in slow cooker. Add preferred amount of salt and parsley. Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

EDIT: Way too much water makes this soupy and seems to dilute the flavor. There’s a lot of burn from the cayenne and chili powder, but the garlic seems to be lost in the confusion. I like the addition of the carrots, but I think this really needs another pound of beef to support the amount of fresh garlic I put in. Edible but really boring. 

 

Never the Less’ mask has been acquired!

Never the Less’ mask has been acquired! published on No Comments on Never the Less’ mask has been acquired!

I just spent more on a single BJD outfit than I ever have for one in my size: ~$335.00 for Souldoll’s Eve-ZF. [Thanks to the Doll Peddlar, which had this outfit in stock Stateside so I only had to pay domestic s/h.] Well, technically, I paid that much for the mask and happened to get a dress along with it. I sure hope I can sell the dress…

Last night I decided that the un/masked doll’s name is Never, but her full name is Never the Less. I think of “the Less” as her cognomen. There’s a whole family of Nevers, including More, Do Well, Mind, Ending…and the Less, who I have. Even though “the Less” is the closest thing she has to a personal name, she goes by Never the Less, although her closest associates may be permitted to call her Natheless, an archaic form of “nevertheless.”

I picked her name because I was thinking of it as a tripartite word made of “never,” “the,” and “less.” The first is an absolute denial, the second a definite article, and the third a comparative adverb. You can’t have a greater or lesser amount of an absolute absence of something, and it certainly isn’t a definite article itself; in fact, it’s an anti-article. The competing concepts hidden in the parts of “nevertheless” make it an ambivalent, riddlesome word, especially to a language lover like me.

Never the Less has an ambivalent riddle for a name because she’s an ambivalent riddle of a character, playing with the concept of “doll.” Resin BJDs in particular are generally thought of as lifelike [despite the proliferation of fantastic anatomies] because their materials [resin, glass eyes, fiber wigs] can mimic the appearance of human skin, eyeballs, and hair to a more realistic degree than, say, a playline fashion doll. But what if Never the Less flouts the expectation of lifelikeness by clearly having no face? Is she still a traditional doll? Or is she more of a floating signifier?

Of course, there’s a whole line of questions about the relationship between her head, her mask, and her identity. She has a head, but her head doesn’t have a face. Her mask has a face, though. Is her mask her face? If her mask is her face, then is it really a mask anymore? Is she her mask? Insert stack of questions about the relationships between masks, personae, personalities, characters, inner selves, outer selves, and representations of selves here. :p

Another burning question is…what the hell else is Never the Less going to wear besides her mask? I’m thinking jeans and a T-shirt and canvas sneakers — i.e., the most realistically bourgeois and undifferentiated casual outfit I can think of. She’s operating on the same principle as the Terrible Trivium from Norman Juster’s Phantom Tollbooth, who creeped me right the fuck out because he was described as a perfectly ordinary man wearing a perfectly ordinary suit, except for he had no face, just a blank head.

She also needs a doll too. I mean — I have her mask, but I need something to put it on.
 

Robert Dear, domestic terrorist and “gentle loner”

Robert Dear, domestic terrorist and “gentle loner” published on No Comments on Robert Dear, domestic terrorist and “gentle loner”

I’m really late to the party here, but I see that a New York Times article described Planned Parenthood terrorist Robert Dear as “a gentle loner who occasionally unleashed violent acts toward neighbors and women he knew.” After criticism online from numerous sources pointing out that this was basically white straight cis male apologism [especially when black male victims of white male violence receive vilification when described posthumously — hat tip to Chaedria LaBouvier], the NYT made some cosmetic changes to the article, but, to date, has made no direct acknowledgment of the multiple levels of bullshit involved in its portrayal of Dear. This reminds me of the 2012 coverage of the death of Lorena Escalera, trans woman of color, wherein the NYT’s confluence of racism, sexism, classism, and transmisogyny led me to cancel my subscription.

I think I’m going to start writing like the NYT.  In fact, I’m now going to characterize the paper itself as “an objective, trustworthy, fair-minded, egalitarian news source that occasionally unleashes bigotry toward anyone who’s not a straight white cis bourgeois male.” That’s accurate, right? :p

Just in case the article isn’t enough of a cesspool already, two other threads in it piss me off. First, there’s the strong assumption that anyone who lives by themselves, doesn’t socialize much with the locals, and keeps mostly to themselves is automatically up to no good. They must be like that because they’re hiding skeletons in their closet.

Second, there’s the strong implication that Dear’s interest in bdsm correlates to his recent murders. In the sixth paragraph of the profile, the topic sentence discusses “sporadic brushes with the law, neighbors, and relatives,” while the last sentence notes that Dear looked for bdsm partners online. The position of the sentence about Dear’s online profile thus groups it in with “brushes with the law,” suggesting that kinky sex and domestic terrorism are on a continuum. Apparently the slippery slope argument is alive and well in supposedly reputable news sources.

 

I’m really surprised that there’s nothing in this profile proposing that Dear is mentally ill and that his mental illness correlates to his criminality.

 

 

Masked/Unmasked doll

Masked/Unmasked doll published on No Comments on Masked/Unmasked doll

I’ve been pining over the limited edition outfit that comes with SoulDoll Evelyn — she has a mask!

 

I like the doll, as she’s an OMV, but I mostly like the concept of a doll with a mask even more. In fact, what would be severely cool would be a doll with a mask like Evelyn’s, only painted up to look all translucent and realistic an’ shit [i.e., like the type of sublte, layered faceup that I don’t do at all]. The mask would be magnetic, removable to see the doll’s actual head. The doll’s actual face would be this planed-down, sealed-off, empty-eyed, creepy-deepy-doo [yup, it’s a new adjective] mask of which I have a digital model by RetroDevil.

Nifty idea, but I’m struggling with the execution. Namely, where do I get a mask? I’m thinking it would probably be a faceplate with the back ground out some more to accommodate the non-removable face. Hmmmm, what standard-issue 1:3 scale BJDs have faceplates?

Doll playlist

Doll playlist published on No Comments on Doll playlist
  • Barbie Girl by Aqua. Witty, catchy, and slyly addressing the Madonna/whore dichotomy! What more could you ask for?
  • Coin Operated Boy by the Dresden Dolls. Overwrought, but still insightful and memorable, especially with plinky-plonky piano. Also Brian Viglione is really hot.
  • Close to You by the Carpenters. Because of the scene in Mirrormask [linked in song title] in which those clockwork gynoids dollify Helena to the tune. Get away from me with your creepy Objectification Dust [TM], robots!
  • Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead. Metaphorical dolls. Close enough.
  • China Girl by David Bowie. Double entendre dolls with more Objectification Dust and bonus racism!
  • Rent by the Pet Shop Boys. Willfully trying to confuse money and possession with love and acceptance and, on occasion, succeeding in this self-delusion.
  • Columbine by David Bowie. The first 1:40 of this mournful video, which is apparently part of a pantomime, Pierrot in Turquoise, that David Bowie created and starred in around 1967. Mimes have always reminded me of dolls.
  • Toy Soldier by David Bowie. Another song from the same era as Columbine. It’s like a nursery rhyme mashed up with Velvet Underground’s Venus in Furs, from which he lifted most of the chorus. The result is as funny, disturbing, and downright weird as you would expect.
  • Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones. We’re not dealing with Objectification Dust here, folks. We’re dealing with Objectification Cement.
  • More to come.

“I’m a blond bimbo girl / In a fantasy world…”

“I’m a blond bimbo girl / In a fantasy world…” published on No Comments on “I’m a blond bimbo girl / In a fantasy world…”

I didn’t really know the lyrics to Aqua’s dance hit Barbie Girl until today when I watched the video. Both the lyrics and the video crack me up. I love the way that the main verses make repeated obvious reference to sexual activities, like undressing, kissing, touching, even blatant “hanky panky,” but the chorus insists that Barbie and Ken’s main activity is partying. Yeah right…the video demonstrates that Rene Dif’s Ken is trying to get into Lene Nystrom’s Barbie’s pants.

I also like Nystrom’s delivery. She sings in a simpering falsetto that accentuates the non-sexual aspect of all the proposed activities. In fact, her Barbie seems more interested in stereotypes of romantic love [“You can touch / You can play / If you say / I’m always yours”] and has very little awareness of the double entendres of her lines. The closest she comes is when she says, “I can act like a star / I can beg on my knees,” whereupon she looks over her sunglasses with an expression that could possibly be knowing or conspiratorial if her character weren’t so blithely uninterested in sexual objectification for the rest of the video. Ken’s the one rolling his eyes and winking at the audience, while Barbie is busy petting the dog, roller skating, and thinking of true love. She’s illustrating the interpretation of doll qua child’s toy, and he’s illustrating doll qua sex toy. Of course, the whole song’s constant emphasis on contrafactuality [“Imagination / Life is your creation,” “…In a fantasy world,” “I can act like a star”] points out that both concepts of dolls are overheated stereotypes created by heterosexual dudes who are not interested in relating to actual, real, complex women, so it’s a sly critique masquerading as a poppy dance hit.

I like smart songs about dolls! 

 

 

Word of the day: vasistas

Word of the day: vasistas published on No Comments on Word of the day: vasistas

I was looking up how to spell “Was ist das?” and found that a word derived therefrom, the French “vasistas,” refers to small windows in doors of houses in Germany, through which people look to see who’s calling. The word comes from the phrase with which German people answer the door: “Was ist das?” I love it — it’s the French equivalent of calling a peephole a hellothere.

Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself music video is a gas!

Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself music video is a gas! published on No Comments on Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself music video is a gas!

In this video, Billy Idol prances around on a junky, post-apocalyptic sound stage, proclaiming how he’s all alone. As he continues posturing and sneering in a hammy, macho manner, fans [?] dressed in grey, ragged clothes scale the walls and attempt to reach him, but he zaps them all away with electricity and continues to assert that he’s dancing with himself dammit! Undaunted, the fans climb up the walls again, gather around him on the sound stage, and start seriously boogeying down. Billy Idol ends the song insisting that he’s still all by his lonesome, but the effect of this statement is diminished by the sweet moves of the fans around him.

 

P.S. Yes, I am also aware of the misogynist themes in this video, like the silhouette of the chained woman dancing and the man sharpening his razor in preparation for killing her.

In case I needed another reason to find Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf objectionable…

In case I needed another reason to find Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf objectionable… published on No Comments on In case I needed another reason to find Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf objectionable…

…I just saw the music video for the first time, and it’s one of the purest, most horrible depictions I’ve seen of Brown People As Props On Great White Hunter’s [Misogynist, Racist, Objectifying] Journey. The singer, who’s not only white, but also dressed in white, just in case we forgot he’s white, mouths the lyrics while plowing through crowds of subcontinental Indians. He grows increasingly irritated as people keep him from shoving his way through the crowd. I like to imagine that all the extras aren’t following the direction to obstruct the singer, but instead are pretending to go about their daily business, unimpressed by some white dude who thinks that the world should clear a path for his penis. Quick cuts reveal that he’s chasing after an African woman, who inexplicably has pointless designs painted on her brows and cheeks. The end up in the leaves of a swampy forest, rolling around. I think they’re supposed to be contending, but the slow motion just makes it seem like they’re doing some sort of badly coordinated tumbling routine. Brilliant.

 

On a purely cinematographical level, this video also fails miserably because it’s filmed during the daytime. However, the first lines of the song — “Dark in the city / Night is a wire / Steam in the subway / Alleys afire” — describe an evocative setting in which the exhalations from the underground mirror the singer’s panting, while the fire in the dead ends links into his energy and urgency. Also I would like to point out that this song happens at night, which heightens the whole singer=wolf metaphor by connoting wolves baying at the moon. The nocturnal setting is essential to the song, but the video discards it in favor of daylight for no apparent reason. Why? They couldn’t wait a few hours? They didn’t have enough spotlights? Who knows? This music video stinks all around.

Today’s word is “cockernonnie.”

Today’s word is “cockernonnie.” published on No Comments on Today’s word is “cockernonnie.”

While I was poking around on Wikipedia for information about Gibson Girl bouffants, I followed a link on that page to one on the chignon, which advised me to “see also: cockernonnie.” Of course, since I have never laid eyes on a cockernonnie before, I felt compelled to follow Wikipedia’s advice in hopes of finding out what one looked like. Wikipedia had the grace to inform me that a cockernonnie was a historical Scottish women’s chignon, also known as a “cock-up,” which is, as we all know, British slang for a complete mess. However, though a cockernonnie may also be referred to as a cock-up, cock-up qua mistake does not derive from cock-up qua hairstyle. And still, after all that, I have no idea what a cockernonnie looks like! Woe is me!

 

On a tangentially related subject, I think “cockernonnie” would make a great insult. Like “nincompoop,” it has vaguely scatological associations, a satisfying plosive at the end of the first syllable, and a wonderful roll off the tongue. The loose association with “cock > dick > dickhead” and the loose homonymy with “ninny” both make “cockernonnie” sound like a word that refers to someone who is rude, arrogant, and offensive in their inane, asinine behavior. Yup, “cockernonnie” is ripe for repurposing…

Let me tell you about U.S. women’s hairstyles of the fin de [19ieme] siecle…

Let me tell you about U.S. women’s hairstyles of the fin de [19ieme] siecle… published on No Comments on Let me tell you about U.S. women’s hairstyles of the fin de [19ieme] siecle…

Around the turn of the 20th century, women pursued two ideals when dressing their hair. The first was VOLUME. The second was CURLS. Even a cursory glance over photos, drawings, and other ephemera of the period shows lofty, complicated updos. Women labored carefully to achieve such styles, setting and curling their hair, teasing it up over rats to give it more height, adding hairpieces, etc., etc. Such hairstyles reached their popular apotheosis in the satirical and yet idealized sketches of Charles Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl, whose look, at once haughty and casually tousled, bespoke an independent and athletic New Woman. In the same way that big hair of the late 1980s and early 1990s correlated with women’s increasingly large presence in corporation positions of power, so the big hair of a century earlier arguably connoted women’s agitation to take up more space in the world. Also it looked really cool.

 

As much as I love big hair from any period, I lament the difficulty of finding digital models of it. Therefore I’m glad to report that I just yesterday figured out how to construct a CGI Gibson Girl bouffant! I used two instances of goldtassel’s lovely Edwardian Hair for Gen1 and G2F. One I pushed beyond the limits of its morphs to achieve the correct voluminous silhouette; the other I used as fill. Jareth illustrates the results below.Continue reading Let me tell you about U.S. women’s hairstyles of the fin de [19ieme] siecle…

Heavenly Pant[r]y

Heavenly Pant[r]y published on No Comments on Heavenly Pant[r]y

E-mail circulated on Friday on a departmental mailing list to which I subscribe:

 

I love our team!

In the spirit of serving our communities…my girls school is hosting a non-food drive for the Heavenly Panty in Essex Junction that serves a lot of our local communities. Some of these items are hard for food pantry’s to get – yet are still very much needed by our neighbors. If you are so inclined….feel free to drop items off with me and I will get them to the Heavenly Pantry.  [details]

E-mail circulated two minutes later, flagged with high importance:

HEAVENLY PANTRY PEOPLE NOT PANTY!!

(crawling into a hole now)

Ringdoll Zombie Amy engages philosophical questions on the nature of decay.

Ringdoll Zombie Amy engages philosophical questions on the nature of decay. published on No Comments on Ringdoll Zombie Amy engages philosophical questions on the nature of decay.

Ringdoll Zombie Amy has come off her preorder and is now on regular sale until the end of January. Ringdoll has put up some more detailed pictures as well. Of course, none of them are unpainted, but they do confirm that she has a face embedded in her viscera where her navel would be. Why? I don’t know. I also don’t know why she is splattered with yellow stuff that looks like dried rubber cement.

 

I’m still not sure whether to get her. I still maintain that a decomposing dryad [with a sapling growing out of her eye socket!!] is a wonderful, hilarious concept that I could execute with great skill, panache, and satisfaction. However, whenever I think about getting the doll, I inevitably think of her “red paint and rubber cement” look, and it just grosses me out. I can’t tell whether I’m balking at artistic engagement with rot and decomposition and/or if I’m just really turned off by the default paint job.

 

Time to do some concept art…

Doll successes and frustrations this weekend

Doll successes and frustrations this weekend published on No Comments on Doll successes and frustrations this weekend

In successes, Submit’s Hujoo Wings body in apricot came on Friday. I narrowed the neck to fit her head socket, trimmed down the feet so they could fit into her glittery shoes, and wired her arms. The apricot plastic matches with the color of her resin well, and the proportions work very well; she now looks like she’s between 8 and 10 instead of between 6 and 8. With more evenly distributed weight, a jointed torso, single-jointed elbows, and double-jointed knees, she has much greater stability and articulation than she did in her original form.Continue reading Doll successes and frustrations this weekend

“PEEK unt!”: or, using words I can’t pronounce correctly

“PEEK unt!”: or, using words I can’t pronounce correctly published on No Comments on “PEEK unt!”: or, using words I can’t pronounce correctly

I love the word “piquant,” but it’s one that I have learned only through reading. No one besides me uses it aloud, so I have always said it as “peek CON[T],” that is, in the French way, with the stress on the second syllable. This always sounded wrong, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the right pronunciation. Nor did I bother to look it up.

I ended up researching the correct pronunciation this morning. Turns out that the stress should be on the first syllable, both in English [“PEEK unt”] and French [“PEE con(t)”]. I will be pronouncing it “PEE con[t]” from now on.

Cranberry Orange Relish That Makes Your Kitchen Look Like Something Died in It

Cranberry Orange Relish That Makes Your Kitchen Look Like Something Died in It published on No Comments on Cranberry Orange Relish That Makes Your Kitchen Look Like Something Died in It

Adapted from a recipe passed down from my mom’s mom to her and then to me. So named because I used an antique meat grinder to mince the fruit, and red pulpy stuff, as well as gruesome-looking drips, got everywhere. This is lots of fun to make, at least with a manual grinder, as the fruit [cranberries especially] pops and squishes in a very satisfying manner upon being crushed by the corkscrew.

12 oz. cranberries, either fresh or frozen
6 mandarin oranges
1 cup sugar

Mince the cranberries with a meat grinder or food processor. Peel oranges, remove pith, quarter, and do the same. Put the glop in a bowl. Mix in sugar. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours [up to 4 days] so that flavors can meld.

“Doing a Devo,” or, What Goes On in My Imagination

“Doing a Devo,” or, What Goes On in My Imagination published on No Comments on “Doing a Devo,” or, What Goes On in My Imagination

I rarely share in public what goes on with the characters in my head, but this is one of the more innocuous events.

For context, I got Whip It by Devo stuck in my head, which is clearly a goofy set of puns, even if you haven’t seen the video. Then I started thinking about Jareth’s workplace, which is mostly your basic corporate office, except for the fact that the business, the Mortal Coil [yes, thank you very much — I like the name too] sells party space, scene space, kinky equipment, and bdsm services. [And that’s one of the ways you can tell it’s imaginary — because such a company would never exist anywhere in Vermont. :p ]

Sadine is the Coil’s rock star domme who brings in so much business that she gets her own assistant, which is Jareth. It’s mostly executive assistant work, with a ton of calendar management. Lately, though, she’s been getting a lot of really low-quality crap from the web content specialists who are ghosting her blog copy, and so we begin our vignette…Continue reading “Doing a Devo,” or, What Goes On in My Imagination

Touralyn, a unique 1:6 scale BJD

Touralyn, a unique 1:6 scale BJD published on No Comments on Touralyn, a unique 1:6 scale BJD

Ever since DragonGems started coming to VTDL meetups, I’ve watched her dollmaking skills develop rapidly. That said, I’ve always particularly liked her second 1:6 scale BJD, an elf, who first showed up to doll club on May 18th, 2013.Continue reading Touralyn, a unique 1:6 scale BJD

If you ever want to weep for the fate of humanity…

If you ever want to weep for the fate of humanity… published on No Comments on If you ever want to weep for the fate of humanity…

…go watch I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, a so-called musical comedy revue, the music for which we can blame on Joe DiPietro and the script on Jimmy Roberts. Wikipedia says that this is the second-longest running off Broadway musical, which makes me respond with the same exclamation that I had after reading Best Loved Poems of the American People: “Wow, the American people have no taste.”

I Love You is basically a laundry list of all the stereotypes associated with modern heteronormative relationships, from dating, to marriage, to having kids, to growing old, all expressed in their most formulaic banalities, set to pointless, unoriginal arrangements that add nothing to the story, such as it is. The reliance on a variety of sketches, united by theme, rather than compelling, engaging characters, shows up the tedious, threadbare nature of the cliches at play. I’m not sure why it’s called a comedy, as it highlights the self-loathing, desperation, and barely concealed hostility that motivate the modern heteronormative narrative. Hah hah. Real funny.

 

P.S. I have to say, though, that I did like the part that went something like this:

 

“Did you put the boys to bed?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d you do it so fast?”

“Told ’em we were going to Disney World.”

 

“You bribed them with promises of Disney World?!”

 

“I couldn’t help it — they were throwing the goldfish at each other. –I figure we’ll just wait a few months, then tell ’em it burned down.”

Vermont Doll Lovers meetup, 11/14/2015

Vermont Doll Lovers meetup, 11/14/2015 published on No Comments on Vermont Doll Lovers meetup, 11/14/2015

Submit, along with Jujube, Dorothy, and Jeff, attended yesterday’s VTDL meetup. House Rainbow Barf made an appearance as well. Pictures on the VTDL blog.

Modern Wizard’s stream-of-consciousness pea soup redux

Modern Wizard’s stream-of-consciousness pea soup redux published on No Comments on Modern Wizard’s stream-of-consciousness pea soup redux

Making the stream-of-consciousness pea soup again today with some revisions.

 

1 lb. ground beef.

1 lb. dry yellow split peas.

2 carrots, sliced. 6 carrots, sliced.

 

1 white onion, diced.

2 potatoes, cubed.

3 packets Herbox bouillon in 6 cups warm water. 6 cups water.

1/2 tsp. pepper.

1/2 tsp. thyme. 3 tsp. thyme.

Somewhere between 1/2 and 1 tsp. cumin. 2 tsp. cumin.

1 tsp. parsley.

1 tsp. salt.

6 hulking garlic cloves, minced. 8 hulking garlic cloves, minced.

Brown the meat with the garlic. Do not put the garlic in the slow cooker with all the other ingredients, as this neutralizes most of the flavor.

Cook for 7 hours on high until peas have disintegrated, stirring regularly to distribute spices.

Modern Wizard’s stream-of-consciousness slow cooker pea soup

Modern Wizard’s stream-of-consciousness slow cooker pea soup published on No Comments on Modern Wizard’s stream-of-consciousness slow cooker pea soup

Adapted from RelatedByFoodJustAddWine’s Slow Cooker Newfoundland Pea Soup. Stream of consciousness in italics adds insight into my cooking philosophy [such as it is] and practice.
Pea soup seemed  like a good thing to make in a slow cooker. It’s dense and sludgy, so it should stand up for several leftover meals.

Nope, not putting a ham bone in, even though it would be delicious. I don’t eat pigs.
Grocery store had no salt beef in stock, so that was out too, which was probably just as well, since it’s loaded with unnecessary salt. Decided that ground beef + garlic could serve just as well.

Also celery is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. NO CELERY.

 

 

1 lb. ground beef.

1 lb. dry yellow split peas. Not sure why they have to be yellow, but there they are. Also not sure why they were in the “Mexican” aisle of the grocery store. Dividing up the grocery store along geographical and ethnic lines doesn’t make sense to me. Original amount was 2 cups, but that would have left just a little of the bag left over, so I put in the whole bag.

2 carrots, sliced.

 

1 white onion, diced. Or a big onion of any type, really. I’m not picky.

2 potatoes, cubed. Any kind of potatoes, except for sweet.

3 packets Herbox bouillon in 6 cups warm water. Original recipe calls for 6 cups, more or less, of chicken broth. The water part of the broth is obviously a necessary addition, but the chicken part seems to be there just for flavor. I mean, this recipe certainly doesn’t need any more sodium, which is why I go for Herbox, a salt-free chicken boullion powder. 6 packets Herbox + 6 cups water seems like chicken broth overkill, so I halved the bouillon.

1/2 tsp. pepper. Or just crank the pepper mill over the slow cooker until it looks like enough has been ground in.

1/2 tsp. thyme. All measurements start off with the intention of exactitude, but then err in either direction, depending on how messily I pour the spices into the measuring spoons.

Somewhere between 1/2 and 1 tsp. cumin. A large hunk of cumin jumped into the pot when I was measuring. Cumin was not in original recipe, but I added it because, after my experience with tomato-based chicken veggie stew, I realized that cumin improves lots of dishes!

1 tsp. parsley. Parsley, on the other hand, is of dubious value, unless fresh.

1 tsp. salt. Just salt until it’s well salted.

6 hulking garlic cloves, minced. I was trying to use up a head on the verge of turning green. Also you can never have too much garlic!!

Thaw ground beef. Mince garlic; mix in with beef. Brown beef; drain.

Put all ingredients in slow cooker; cook on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Poke soup after three hours; taste and realize that peas have not disintegrated and flavors have not mingled.

Add more salt, pepper, and thyme. Turn down to low; cook on low for 5 more hours until peas have disintegrated. Get up at 2:00 AM; discover that soup has reached state of optimum sludge. Sample approvingly. Put in plastic storage container; wash dishes; go back to bed, looking forward to soup the next night.

Entry will be updated after serious taste testing tonight.

EDIT: This stuff is really good. It can be eaten hot or cold, and it’s especially good with savory bread — we ate it with garlic and cheese breadsticks last night, and tonight I’m going to pair it with a rosemary chive roll. It starts out porridgey, but then, as the excess water evaporates, it turns to the consistency of [delicious] cement. If you look up “hearty” in the dictionary, there is a picture of my pea soup. The flavors, like the peas themselves, disintegrate and blend over the course of cooking, so I could probably put more garlic and cumin in it without harming the taste. I was right in my assumption, however, that other spices compensate for a lack of salt; this soup needs no additional salt.

The kid is back: the return of Submit’s original form [a.k.a. Tiny Elfdolls are endearing!]

The kid is back: the return of Submit’s original form [a.k.a. Tiny Elfdolls are endearing!] published on No Comments on The kid is back: the return of Submit’s original form [a.k.a. Tiny Elfdolls are endearing!]

Submit’s original form — an Elfdoll Hana — arrived in the mail today. I popped on the smirky faceplate, dressed her in her clothes, and posed her for a few triumphal photos. The photos demonstrate the extent of her elbow flexibility, as well as her need to be propped up by the backdrop wall [small feet and long, heavy torso make her unbalanced]. Adorable she definitely is, but she really needs a better body with double joints and modern engineering.Continue reading The kid is back: the return of Submit’s original form [a.k.a. Tiny Elfdolls are endearing!]

Things I picture lumberjacks wearing…

Things I picture lumberjacks wearing… published on No Comments on Things I picture lumberjacks wearing…

…include the following:

  • steel-toed boots
  • wool socks
  • hard hats
  • leather work gloves with padded palms
  • rip-stop pants reinforced with grommets
  • sweaty T-shirts

Things I do not picture lumberjacks wearing include the following:

  • poet’s blouses that have never seen a day’s sweat in their lives
  • pointless little vests that don’t do anything
  • pants with integrated codpieces
  • boots with useless straps
  • no gloves
  • no head protection

In other words, I don’t picture them wearing anything like the Lumberjack outfit included in the Genesis 2 Male Starter Essentials by Daz Studio. However, I must admit that the outfit is hilarious in its impracticality and thus perfect for Jareth, who likes entertaining and impractical outfits.Continue reading Things I picture lumberjacks wearing…

Localized temporal distortion??

Localized temporal distortion?? published on No Comments on Localized temporal distortion??

Me to my boss today [deadpan]: I have a very serious, pressing question: How did it get to be 11:45 already?

 

Her [deadpan]: We’re in a time warp. We went through the wormhole and came out the other end.

 

Me: Like in Wayne’s World. [makes appropriate sound effects]

Of course, since I often have meta-thoughts, especially about language, I got to wondering what exactly a time warp is, what it sounds like, and the history of its development as a pop cultural shorthand for a perception that time is moving more quickly or more slowly than usual. I have no definite answers, but I think the signature sound of the TARDIS on Doctor Who, as well as the show’s theme song [2003 version linked], not to mention the RHPS song Time Warp, will inflect the results. Stay tuned.

Welcome back, Submit!

Welcome back, Submit! published on No Comments on Welcome back, Submit!

One of my most favorite dolls has always been the first inresination of Submit. I first purchased her as an Elfdoll Hana Devil back in March, 2007. This doll was a realistically proportioned 1:6 scale kid with four swappable faceplaces: neutral open-eyed, happy and smiling, pouting, and sleeping. As evidenced by my first photostory with her, she swiftly developed her own adorable, indomitable personality. Though I clearly enjoyed changing her expressions as needed, I quickly learned that the smirky one best reflected her general demeanor.

 

I sold Submit 1.0 just two months later to pay expenses, but always regretted getting rid of her. About a year and a half later, in November, 2007, I brought her back as another Elfdoll of the same size, but with a different headsculpt: Doona Kathlen. Obviously her personality is no different, but the Kathlen sculpt lacks that mischievous spark that so endeared me to Hana. It doesn’t perfectly represent Submit the way that the smirky Hana faceplate does.

Recently I got the idea to improve Submit’s articulation because, even though she’s excruciatingly cute in the headsculpt department, her body is just basic. While Delmar, a Leekeworld Gift Project Little Mermaid, suffers from laziness, Submit, by contrast, suffers from inadequately distributed focus. I seriously theorize that Rainmain expended so much creative energy on the expressive faceplates for Hana that he did a super basic, single-jointed body — functional but utterly pedestrian. The body also features some weird aesthetic choices, particularly a long, solid, unjointed torso, which, when combined with the short, stubby limbs, makes the doll imbalanced. On her original body, Submit can’t do much besides change expressions.

Thus I started thinking about either moving Submit’s head to a different body or hybridizing her to give her some better poseability. As I explore options for her upgrade, I realized that I would really rather have and upgraded Submit with a Hana sculpt instead of a Kathlen sculpt.

Just as I realized this, an Elfdoll Hana Angel [same as the Devil in all respects, except for the included costume] showed up on Ebay. I just won the auction, including the doll, all faceplates, default faceups, eyes, certificate of authenticity, and outfit [except for underwear] for a rockin’ $165.78 including shipping. Given that I paid somewhere around $350.00 for Submit the first time that I got her as an Elfdoll Hana, her current price is the equivalent of a significant discount!

Anyway, I’m still uncertain about how to improve her articulation, but at least I have the most appropriate headsculpt for Submit now. Welcome back, kiddo!
 

Now we know what Stephenie Meyer thinks of 50 Shades.

Now we know what Stephenie Meyer thinks of 50 Shades. published on No Comments on Now we know what Stephenie Meyer thinks of 50 Shades.

After wondering Meyer’s opinion a while back on E.L. James’ series that started off as Twilight fanfic, I finally found an answer to that question. In a recent presentation at the New York Comic Con, Meyer tergiversated on the eventual release of Midnight Sun, apparently claiming that James’ Grey pissed her off so much that she changed her mind yet again on publishing Edward’s point of view. Meyer characterized the news that James had come out with Grey as “a literal flip the table moment.”

 

From this I deduce that [surprise surprise!] Meyer really dislikes 50 Poops. I’m sure Meyer takes offense that James co-opted Meyer’s cherished, chaste characters and reinterpreted them as people who can’t stop banging. Beyond that, however, Meyer also appears to be fuming because James got there first. In Meyer’s mind, the objectionable Twilight wannabe with her objectionable characters and objectionable ideas of sex has copied Meyer’s idea — a romance novel from the dude’s perspective — yet again. Meyer dislikes James for claiming attention and money that Meyer believes should be directed toward her. This is yet another case of Meyer acting like her books are a sacred extension of her self. Her lack of critical distance and self-reflection on her creations really drives me up the wall.

It came from the time warp: thoughts on Fox’s redo of The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie

It came from the time warp: thoughts on Fox’s redo of The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie published on No Comments on It came from the time warp: thoughts on Fox’s redo of The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie

Two thoughts: 1) Don’t do it in the first place.

2) If you do do it, do not cast Laverne Cox, a trans woman of color, as Frank, a role intimately associated with Tim Curry, white cis dude, because that makes some really problematic, sexist, transmisogynist equations between the identity of the person who plays the role [trans woman of color] and the hammy, draggy, stereotypically polymorphous perversion evinced by the character. Ultimately Frank ends up as the object of the movie’s jokes, scorn, and derision; plus he gets killed off. I fail to see anything progressive or revisionist in a trans woman of color playing a character whose objectification and murder make me think of all the trans women of color who fall victim each year to the incoherent “trans panic” bullshit.

Caelyn Sandel goes into some incisive detail on the subject on the Mary Sue.

 

Why does capitalism have such a rigid fetish for reactivating the dead past so it can lurch around in contextless, blunderful fashion, reopening old wounds and creating new ones by sheer virtue of anachronism?

Lucille Allen’s really easy applesauce recipe

Lucille Allen’s really easy applesauce recipe published on No Comments on Lucille Allen’s really easy applesauce recipe

APPLESAUCE by Lucille V. Allen — deli 10/2015!

Macintosh apples, peeled, cored, cut into quarters

5 oz. water

3 q. saucepan

Fill saucepan with apple parts and water. Cook for 20 minutes on medium with lid on. Stir. Poke. Cook for 20 more minutes on medium. Applesauce results.

Some notes on Stephenie Meyers’ Life and Death

Some notes on Stephenie Meyers’ Life and Death published on No Comments on Some notes on Stephenie Meyers’ Life and Death

I’ve started on Life and Death, Stephenie Meyers’ 10th-anniversary version of Twilight with Beau [human] and Edythe [vampire] instead of Bella and Edward. I’m not sure how far I’ll get with it, but I do have a few thoughts:

 

  • Life and Death is bound upside-down with a newly edited version of Twilight so that one can read one novel, then flip the book around and read another. I find this very distracting, as every line in LaD makes me want to compare it to the analogue in Twilight. Thus I’ve been juggling the book in a very time-consuming manner. To read LaD in the way that I would find most interesting would ideally require two E-readers side by side, one with each book on it.
  • Meyer claims on the first page of the foreword that she didn’t do Midnight Sun for the 10th anniversary because the “problem was time — as in, there wasn’t any. Certainly not enough to write a novel, or even half of one.” I don’t understand this protest of hers, as she clearly had time to write 387 pages of LaD. I suspect that she just didn’t want to write Midnight Sun because she was still angry that it was leaked online.
  • P. 4: Beau reports his mom’s unusual comment that he and she “look so much alike that I could use her for a shaving mirror.” Of course, he then goes on to describe his mother as very youthful in appearance, with pointy chin and full lips, which, he emphasizes, he does not share. We thus have a disjunction between his mom’s perception of his appearance and his own observations thereon. His mom’s kinda disturbing insistence on their similarities suggests that she is forcing some sort of identification between herself and her son that Beau’s not really feeling. Maybe she wishes she had a daughter? Of course, any sort of psychological ambivalence is probably just an artifact from Twilight, in which Bella and her mom do look similar. This comment of Beau’s mom illustrates Meyers’ superficial, search-and-replace approach to her rewrite; rather than thinking through the implications of how a [supposed] similarity might have different effects on mother and son instead of mother and daughter, Meyer just hits all the same notes in each case.
  • P. 7: Beau looks out the window at Forks: “It was probably beautiful or something. Everything was green: the trees were covered in moss, both the trunks and the branches, the ground blanketed with ferns. Even the air has turned green by the time it filtered down through the leaves. It was too green — an alien planet.” This paragraph reads as both wrong to me and not enough. We already know that Beau keenly observes appearances and aesthetics, so the sentence “It was probably beautiful or something” doesn’t make sense for the character. It sounds like a grudging admission from a more typical teenage kid who thinks aesthetics are bullshit. I imagine rather that he would appreciate that the land was beautiful in a certain way, but looked alien and ugly [and dank and forbidding?] in contrast to his hot, dry home state of Arizona. I’d rewrite something like this: “Everything was green: [blah blah blah]. Maybe it was beautiful to the people who lived here, but not to me. There was too much greenery, too much moisture, too many shadows. It was an alien planet compared to Arizona. I wished I was back home.”

Delmar salvaged

Delmar salvaged published on No Comments on Delmar salvaged

Finished cleaning Delmar today. Decided to retain all human [grey resin] parts, as well as yellow [probably once white] tailfin. I’m excluding her tail from hips to end joint, as they’re just so undetailed and poorly jointed that I wonder why Leekeworld even bothered. I plan to make Delmar a substitute tail of some more flexible material, but I am not sure what.Continue reading Delmar salvaged

Krampus: Jareth’s interpretation compared to mine

Krampus: Jareth’s interpretation compared to mine published on No Comments on Krampus: Jareth’s interpretation compared to mine

I told Jareth he should be Krampus for the annual Christmas masquerade ball. Krampus, is, of course, a character in German folklore who’s kind of like the anti-Santa. He looks a lot like a stereotypical demon/devil/satyr, with horns, hooves, and tail. He also has an extremely long tongue. He has been known to rattle bunches of chains, whip misbehaving brats, hand out coal, chase women, and eat/drown/take to Hell children, although he apparently can be appeased with schnapps. Nice guy.Continue reading Krampus: Jareth’s interpretation compared to mine

Ringdoll Zombie Amy

Ringdoll Zombie Amy published on No Comments on Ringdoll Zombie Amy

I was mistaken. The zombie BJD previewed recently by Ringdoll is not Lora, but a different sculpt: Amy. She has a sales page here. Looks like she’ll be about $520.00 excluding s/h.

 

There are more pictures showing the details of her headsculpt and body. I find the right side of her face and her exposed spine especially beautiful and promising for decomposing dryad work. I seriously query the placement, however, of what appears to be a china doll head embedded in her intestines where her navel would have been. It just looks silly.

 

Purchase y/n?

I think I may have found my dryad doll.

I think I may have found my dryad doll. published on No Comments on I think I may have found my dryad doll.

Among those floating concepts that have not yet grounded in the form of dolls, I have long wanted to do a dryad [doll concept from May, 2013 linked here] or human/tree hybrid. Now I believe that I may have found the ideal base for one.

Ringdoll, best known for making gleefully grotesque designs, will soon come out with a female counterpart to their very popular Zombie Sol: the also-decaying Lora. Though she hasn’t officially debuted yet, here’s a picture from the Ringdoll FaceBook page.

 

My interest in this sculpt does not contradict my earlier stated distaste for “guts” dolls in favor of “bones” dolls. That’s because I see this sculpt less as an opportunity to throw some red paint and high-gloss varnish around and call it a day and more of a challenge. It’s kind of hard to tell beneath the distracting splatters, but the photo of Lora shows a head and body with stylized pitting, corrugation, and lumps. Guess what else is pitted, corrugated, and lumpy…besides decomposing corpses? Trees!

 

So, instead of having just a fully alive human/tree hybrid character, I think that the best way to make use of the Lora sculpt would be to combine the concept of zombie and dryad. Basically we’d have a dead person, but with moss, dirt, leaves, bark, and humus instead of red paint. Any sculpted wounds would become places where bark and moss were overtaking her skin. She’d be dying as a human, but growing as a tree. And there would be a seedling growing out of her empty eye socket, and her hands would be turning into branches with leaves at the ends of her fingers, and it would be disgusting, but also amusing and awesome!

 

 

Double, double, toil and trouble: Modern Wizard’s chicken tortilla soup redux

Double, double, toil and trouble: Modern Wizard’s chicken tortilla soup redux published on No Comments on Double, double, toil and trouble: Modern Wizard’s chicken tortilla soup redux

Last week’s experiment in slow cooking still delights my taste buds, even five days later, so I’m doing it again this weekend, with the following improvements:

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chunked

various amounts of salt, pepper, cumin, EDIT: olive oil for chicken [didn’t taste any spices on chicken, waste of cumin]

1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion

EDIT: 1 can [~10 oz.] tomato sauce [for thickening]

sprinkling of red pepper

one big yellow onion, diced

1 jar Green Mountain Gringo medium garlic salsa

14-16 oz. chicken broth made with Herbox

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon each of cumin and chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cilantro

2 cups water EDIT: 3 cups water

8 oz. frozen corn EDIT: increase to 12 oz.

10 oz. frozen mixed veggies EDIT: increase to 12 oz.

6 cloves garlic, minced

various amounts of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper for the soup

Thaw chicken. Line glass baking dish with foil. Cut chicken into 1″ chunks. Drizzle with olive oil until covered. Add salt, pepper, cumin to taste. Cover baking dish with more foil. Cook in middle rack of oven preheated to 400 degrees F for ~25 minutes.

Remove chicken from olive oil; shred. Put chicken and all other ingredients in slow cooker. Cook for 3 hours on high.

 

Vermont Doll Lovers Halloween meetup, 10/24/2015

Vermont Doll Lovers Halloween meetup, 10/24/2015 published on No Comments on Vermont Doll Lovers Halloween meetup, 10/24/2015

Polly, Jujube, Thalia, and Sardonix had an early Halloween party along with the other dolls at the most recent VTDL meet.  Pictures are over on the official blog.

ModernWizard’s chicken tortilla soup

ModernWizard’s chicken tortilla soup published on No Comments on ModernWizard’s chicken tortilla soup

Adapted from AllRecipes’ Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chunked

various amounts of salt, pepper, cumin, olive oil for chicken

1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion

sprinkling of red pepper

one big yellow onion, diced

1 jar Green Mountain Gringo medium garlic salsa

14-16 oz. chicken broth made with Herbox

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon each of cumin and chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cilantro

2 cups water

8 oz. frozen corn

10 oz. frozen mixed veggies

6 cloves garlic, minced

various amounts of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper for the soup

Thaw chicken. Line glass baking dish with foil. Cut chicken into 1″ chunks. Drizzle with olive oil until covered. Add salt, pepper, cumin to taste. Cover baking dish with more foil. Cook in middle rack of oven preheated to 400 degrees F for ~25 minutes.

Remove chicken from olive oil; shred. Put chicken and all other ingredients in slow cooker. Cook for 3 hours on high.

Really yummy this way! Salsa [instead of originally prescribed enchilada sauce, whatever that is] and fresh garlic give it a kick without it having a burning spiciness. I.e., this soup does not make my nose drip, which is fine with me. Mixed veggies add more variety than just corn. Could use a little tomato paste to thicken broth. Almost a stew with all the stuff I added. :d

Half-skullface BJD

Half-skullface BJD published on No Comments on Half-skullface BJD

The only thing that would make Popodoll Ramiel cooler is if his mouth were open and he had fangs.

 

I had to think for a moment why I think Popodoll Ramiel is awesome and Ringdoll Zombie Sol is too revolting for my interests. Turns out I’m less a fan of resin viscera than I am a fan of resin skeletons.

 

 

If I hadn’t just completed Thalia, I would be all over this doll.

Jareth is ^_^ !

Jareth is ^_^ ! published on No Comments on Jareth is ^_^ !

It’s very hard to portray Jareth in this gender presentation without him looking preppy or hipsterish. That’s why I keep coming back to Luthbel’s G2M Horror Survivors Marius for the texture, hair, brows, and beard. It looks casual, weatherbeaten, and a little stylish [ref. sticky-uppy hair], but not really put-together.Continue reading Jareth is ^_^ !

ModernWizard’s slow cooker chili

ModernWizard’s slow cooker chili published on No Comments on ModernWizard’s slow cooker chili

Adapted from AllRecipes’ Spicy Slow-Cooked Chili.

2 pounds ground beef
2 cans [~16 oz] black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cans [~10 oz] diced tomatoes with chiles, drained
1 can [~16 oz] tomato sauce
1 big yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
miscellaneous amounts of chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt

miscellaneous amounts of grated cheese

miscellaneous amounts of  non-fat plain yogurt

Brown beef. Drain.

Put all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook for about 10 hours on low.

Put grated cheese and yogurt on the chili if you want.

 

—

Note to self: It really tastes more like chili if I remember to put the chili powder and cayenne pepper in before cooking it. Also needs more garlic.

Welcome, Honorine!

Welcome, Honorine! published on No Comments on Welcome, Honorine!

I have acquired another Elfdoll 14cm tiny BJD. Unlike Dorothy [Dodo] and Jeff [Kai], I have not had an exemplar of this doll before. She is Olivia [link goes to archived sales page], the only sleeping headsculpt among the 14cm Elfdoll humanoids. [There are sleeping anthro Catsies, but I’m not interested in those.] I’ve decided that her name is Honorine. Here she is [at left] in a photo from the seller, hanging out with what looks to be a Soom Faery Legend Rose [at right].Continue reading Welcome, Honorine!

Crimson Peak: del Toro’s “Fall of the House of Usher” wannabe

Crimson Peak: del Toro’s “Fall of the House of Usher” wannabe published on No Comments on Crimson Peak: del Toro’s “Fall of the House of Usher” wannabe

I saw Crimson Peak on the strength of its baroque costumes and set design. On that front, it did not disappoint. I especially liked Mia Wasikowska’s dressing gown, which had leg-o’-mutton sleeves so voluminous that that were deflating in on themselves, and Jessica Chastain’s end-scene…uh, let’s just call it deshabille, with endlessly flowing sleeves and streaming skirts, perfect for running around shrieking in. I was going to say that I’d like these articles of clothing in 1:3 scale or digital, but neither format would do justice to the restless, watery movement with which they moved on the big screen.

 

Oh yeah, I guess there were some people in those clothes too: aspiringly authorial Edith Cushing [Mia Wasikowska], the ingenue prying into the affairs of suspiciously vampiric Thomas Sharpe [Tom Hiddleston] and his scarily possessive sister Lucille [Jessica Chastain]. I liked the first act, occurring in Edith’s hometown of Buffalo, New York, during which the characters had personality and the Sharpes were obviously engaging in machinations. As soon as the action moved across the pond to Cumberland, England, location of the Sharpes’ ancestral estate, the quality of the costumes and set designs increased, while everyone’s personality evacuated. Opportunities for characters to not only demonstrate their personalities, but also somehow hitch into the plot — Edith’s writerly ambitions and her ability to see ghosts, Thomas’ mechanical aptitude, the whole thread with the dog and the siblings’ ambivalence toward it — appeared and then fell away because apparently del Toro could handle either a cogent script or lavish set dressing, but not both simultaneously.

 

I could have handled the general unraveling of the movie if it weren’t so lazily overdetermined. The movie sets itself up like a mystery, but there’s really no intrepid sleuthing of piecing together of clues. Okay, granted, Edith does a little poking around to find some wax cylinders from a previous tenant, but then the recordings spell everything out for her, as does Lucille during the end scene, as does Edith’s narration bookending the whole film. Look, del Toro — give the viewers a little credit. You don’t need to tell us that “ghosts are real” — Edith’s beginning and end claim. You can just tell the story, and we will recognize very soon that they are. Show, rather than tell. You’ll have a stronger story that way.

 

Crimson Peak would have been greatly improved if Lucille were dead all along, tied to Allerdale Hall, but still exerting influence over Thomas. He would have come to the US alone and then killed Edith’s father under Lucille’s urging so that Edith would feel compelled to marry him. Edith and Thomas would then go back to England, where Lucille would manifest to both of them and start restricting Edith’s life. Most of the plot would occur as usual, although there would be some hints that Lucille was not of the living. The true nature of Thomas and Edith’s relationship would thus be even more disturbing.

The climax would be mostly the same too, only Thomas’ clay extractor would somehow dig up Lucille’s corpse, leading Edith to realize that she’d been dealing with a dead woman all along. Thomas would become unhinged at the sight of Lucille’s body and start talking to it. His words would imply that his attachment to Lucille played a part in bringing her back as a ghost. At that point, thanks to Thomas’ invention, the creaky foundation of Allerdale Hall would fail, taking Lucille’s corpse and Thomas along with it. Edith alone would escape, probably to freeze to death in the blizzard. Sure, this ending owes a lot to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” but it’s also a damn sight creepier and more psychologically interesting than the actual ending.

Polly’s do-over

Polly’s do-over published on No Comments on Polly’s do-over

I recently completed a significant amount of work on Polly, none of which is particularly apparent.

 

 

 

  • I removed her old faceup, thoroughly cleaned her head, sealed it, gave her a new faceup, then sealed that.
  • I got her a new wig.
  • I restrung her core [i.e., everything except her arms] and made a notch in her headback to hold the elastic instead of trying to keep it up in her head with swears and hot glue.

 

Polly is very much a jerry-rigged doll, a fact immediately visible when her wig is removed. Her head started off as an Elfdoll Doona Kathlen sleeping faceplate without a headback, so I made one very messily out of Aves Apoxie Sculpt. Also, when I was removing one of her earliest faceups, I applied Pebeo too aggressively, removing the top layer of resin in a patch on her lower left cheek. Her hair and makeup have mostly been inspired by my desire to minimize the color discrepancies between a) her faceplate and headback and b) her slightly yellowed faceplate and the whiter scars left by Pebeo. I’m pleased to report that her new wig hides pretty much all the Aves Apoxie Sculpt visible when she used other wigs. As for her facial scars, they’re much less obvious than the grey Aves Apoxie Sculpt, and I tend to shoot her from the front and the right side anyway. :pContinue reading Polly’s do-over

What’s more fun that a Christmas tree? A Halloween tree!

What’s more fun that a Christmas tree? A Halloween tree! published on No Comments on What’s more fun that a Christmas tree? A Halloween tree!

Vermont Doll Lovers  has its Halloween meetup in about a week and a half, so I’ve been collecting seasonal props appropriate for dolls of various scales. Today I took the inspiration even further and decorated one of my 11″ fake pine trees, previously serving as a piece of my forest set, to be a Halloween tree. Since a Halloween tree is exactly the sort of thing Isabel would enjoy, we may see one shortly in Zombieville. Pictures below.Continue reading What’s more fun that a Christmas tree? A Halloween tree!

MiracleDoll Vic: another one for the OMV group

MiracleDoll Vic: another one for the OMV group published on No Comments on MiracleDoll Vic: another one for the OMV group

I just came across the most hilarious 1:3 scale BJD headsculpt today: MiracleDoll Vic. The pictures on Stacy’s Pink Ocean don’t really do this sculpt justice; like IOS Infernale, the sculpt clearly draws inspiration from anime/manga for its overall pointiness, as well as its impressively large nose. Even the open, smiling mouth full of pointy little teefs reminds me of IOS Infernale.

 

Vic differs from Infernale, though, in that Infernale is sculpted “straight,” i.e., not humorously, as a gloriously manga-riffic bishounen vampire that’s supposed to be seriously beautiful and seriously deadly, despite the fact that its tongues are hilarious.  Vic, however, has an open mouth sculpted halfway between speech and smile, as well as curving eyes, the right narrower than the left, and raised brows. In other words, I imagine the doll saying, “Hey guys, sorry I scared you with my mouth full of pointy teefs, but it’s just my dentition. Whatcha gonna do?”

Most of the faceups for this sculpt play up the sheepish expression, but I think Vic can do other moods as well. With happier brows, the sculpt could definitely do a a more cheerful, but still awkward and dorky, character.

 

I want one.

Delmar: cute, in need of much help

Delmar: cute, in need of much help published on No Comments on Delmar: cute, in need of much help

Delmar arrived this evening! I took some photos of her current state, just so I have something to compare her future improved self to.

 

She needs more works than I expected, but nothing I can’t handle. As I previously stated, her orange and black color scheme works well on her, giving her a Gothy, zombie look, but it’s all gotta go. See that pale headcap? That represents the color of her resin beneath the grey blush. Faceup, body jewels, and grey blush are all being stripped.

 

As for the orange of her tail, an inspection inside her tail socket reveals even color all around, so I’m pretty sure her lower half is dyed. I’ll clean her tail up, for sure [no stick-on rhinestones, please!], but the orange remains.

 

So Delmar needs blushing, faceup, and rhinestone removal, along with an overall cleaning. She also needs disassembly and [something I was not expected] removal of the sueding in every single joint. Sueding — the insertion of some high-friction material, such as sand, moleskin, or dried hot glue in joint sockets to improve poseability — may work on large, heavy dolls, but it’s less effective on small dolls like Delmar. The sueding keeps her joints from fitting snugly together, and it makes visible layers between pieces that are really distracting. Sueding needs to go, to be replaced by wiring instead.

 

In another unexpected development, Delmar has no hooks at the ends of her arms or her tail. Both her hands and her tailfin are fully strung, which I think limits their articulation. On smaller dolls [like Jujube, Dorothy, and Jeff], stringing is an acceptable way to keep small hands and feets on, but it’s unnecessary on a doll Delmar’s size. I see that I’ll be making some S hooks soon.

 

Though I have to drastically improve Delmar, that doesn’t make me dislike her. In fact, I enjoy working on dolls to improve them; it gives me more time to build affection for them. Even though removal of sueding and exchange of string for S hooks don’t really constitute customizing, I do like such activities, as they are part of how I make dolls accord to my visions of what they should be like.

 

Anyway, now that I have Delmar in hand, I like her even more than in pictures. The official photos seem to emphasize her ungainly proportions and her tiny, puckered mouth, while the auction photos make her look messy, with yellowish undertones. In person, though, she looks more like an awkward kid, with a plump body and stubby limbs, while the extended lip lines make her mouth seem wider. I’m not really impressed with the stiff, simplistic sculpting on the mertail — hip fins aren’t articulated, and there’s no detailing on the main tail section — but her webbed fingers and matching fin-shaped ears are charming.

 

I think she’s a zombie.  Pictures below. Continue reading Delmar: cute, in need of much help

Open-mouthed vampires…

Open-mouthed vampires… published on No Comments on Open-mouthed vampires…

…are obviously my favorite type of BJDs. The interest started back in 2004 when Cerebrus Project came out with an elf-eared version of its 1:3 scale sculpt Lishe. She also had fangs. I ended up getting the unfanged version for Sardonix 1.0, who I suppose could be an honorary open-mouthed vampire [OMV]. However, my interest in OMVs continued, and I currently have three. Araminthe started it all, followed by Yamarrah and, most recently, Thalia.

 

Well, actually, I have four. I just realized tonight that Janvier Jett, my Angelsdoll Ieseul Cat Avatar, can easily be reinterpreted as an OMV. Her sharp canines and pointed ears are supposed to denote, along with her broad, flat nose ridge, the traits of a feline therianthrope. However, because she has an open mouth and pointy teeth, she can also count as an OMV.

Janvier Jett never really came together as a character for me, which is why I’ve put her head on the DOA marketplace twice, but no one wants her. But maybe I do! I got the idea just now to wipe the Ieseul Cat Avatar head and reconceptualize the sculpt as another character with a more definite personality.

 

In fact, I already have a name — Venelda — and a concept: late 1980s/early 1990s. I’ve been wanting such a doll since I saw Angelsdoll Ieseul Cat Avatar’s default faceup, with its fabulous combination of blue and yellow eyeshadow. Both Lola Paprika and Janvier Jett, however, went off into Signature Style Land, rather than remaining in the 1980s. My next attempt at the 1980s, Yamarrah, decided to be a character of fire and ice [cream] instead, though her oversize sweatshirt, massive earrings, leggings, and legwarmers testify to the direction I originally wanted her to take.

 

Anyway, I see Venelda as a vampire turned somewhere in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bright faceup, big hair [either short curls and a headband, or long hair and poofy bangs, or a high ponytail and poofy bangs], big earrings, tiered skirt, blouse with cap sleeves, fishnet fingerless gloves, armloads of jelly bracelets, jelly shoes if I can find them, slouch socks, etc., etc. She plays with her Gameboy and listens to tapes on her Walkman…or boom box. Maybe she plays games on a Commodore 64? ^_^ She doesn’t trust any technology made after 1990, but also has no patience for recent fetishization of the 1980s and 1990s.

“Okay, but wait — here is some new information: I NEED it.”

“Okay, but wait — here is some new information: I NEED it.” published on No Comments on “Okay, but wait — here is some new information: I NEED it.”

Sean Williams’ column in Slate, “But I Want it,” genericizes conversations between a father and a kid. The father tries to reason with the kid using impeccable adult logic, while the kid counters with airtight kid logic. Hilarity results. You don’t even have to have kids in order to appreciate the humor here; in fact, the first conversation reminds me of conversations I’ve had with past cats.

Have acquired small mermaid #2.

Have acquired small mermaid #2. published on No Comments on Have acquired small mermaid #2.

Last night I bought a Leekeworld Gift Project Little Mermaid for $150.00 [!] shipped off Ebay. She’s a pretty rare BJD, as she was only offered as a gift between August 30th and September 26th, 2012 to customers who spent a certain amount. Those who spent over $350.00 got a version of her with a human body, while those who spent over $450.00 got a version of her with a mermaid tail. This, of course, irritated me to no end, as I of course wanted a 1:6 scale mermaid BJD, but absolutely nothing else from Leekeworld, certainly not $450.00 of stuff.

 

The Leekeworld Little Mermaid is not a $450.00 doll. Despite an overall cute concept — she’s 20cm in human form, so she’s basically a merkid with a chubby face — she suffers from poor design. She has a questionably long torso, which, combined with her short limbs, just makes her look weird. Both human and mer versions have underbust joints and hip joints, but no waist joints, meaning that the long torso never achieves fluid, realistic posture. To make matters worse, while the human version has double-jointed knees, the mer version has articulation only at the hip and at the base of the tail. I thought Soom’s merdolls had abysmal articulation, but at least they can sit down, as Faery Legend Azur demonstrates. Again, Leekeworld Little Mermaid is not anywhere near a $450.00 doll. She’s a $150.00 doll that needs a lot of help.

 

Delmar, as I have named her, requires serious work. I’m not sure what’s going on with her resin color, whether she’s faded and/or blushed, but she definitely needs all current pigmentation, including faceup, removed. The orange and grey color scheme works surprisingly well, so I may keep that, but first she needs disassembly, thorough cleaning, and restringing. I may also shorten her torso so that the horrible hip joint becomes more of a waist joint. There may also be the addition of a “knee” joint in the future or perhaps even a wholesale replacement of that irritatingly unbending tail.

Delmar is a VERY LOUD Goth in training and Submit’s friend. Pictures from auction [taken by seller tealmermaid] below:Continue reading Have acquired small mermaid #2.

Sexually active teenage girls are repulsive; Abenaki Indians are disposable; and “sex changes” are humiliating punishment: lessons from The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant

Sexually active teenage girls are repulsive; Abenaki Indians are disposable; and “sex changes” are humiliating punishment: lessons from The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant published on No Comments on Sexually active teenage girls are repulsive; Abenaki Indians are disposable; and “sex changes” are humiliating punishment: lessons from The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant

Please note that this discussion of Joanna Wiebe’s Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant contains critical examination of huge spoilers. Don’t read further if you want to maintain the mystery. Read further if you want detail on how this otherwise promising debut fails disappointingly.Continue reading Sexually active teenage girls are repulsive; Abenaki Indians are disposable; and “sex changes” are humiliating punishment: lessons from The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant

Desperately scrambling for relevance: Stephenie Meyer’s Life and Death

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Apparently Stephenie Meyer decided to redo the plot of Twilight in her most recent work, Life and Death, which stars Beau as a human teenage dude and Edythe as a 100-year-old vampire woman. I don’t know why. Nobody wanted this; as far as I can tell, fans would have much rather had Midnight Sun, i.e., the whole thing from Edward’s point of view.

However, according the Entertainment Weekly article linked above, Meyer explains in the preface that she wrote the follow-up in part to challenge critics’ statements that Bella was a wet dishrag of a main character, a Mary Sue cipher, and a damsel in distress. In fact, Meyer tries to remove Bella’s femininity from the discussion, claiming that Bella and her reimagined counterpart Beau are “human[s] in distress,” out of their depth when surrounded by “superheroes and supervillains.”

In other words, Meyer takes all the criticism of Twilight and friends very personally. She could either use the opportunity to improve her work based on relevant criticism, or she could ignore the critics and continue writing new stuff. But Meyer chooses neither option. Instead, she digs in, doubles down, and publishes 400 rehashed pages that say, in essence, “I’m right, so there! Besides, I can’t hear you la la la la la…” This is not the behavior of someone interested in developing as an author. This is the behavior of someone who perceives dissection of Twilight as a violent attack on her personally.

 

Because I’m still in the midst of reading Grey, I feel like there’s so much self-reference going on with both E.L. James and Stephenie Meyer [not the least example of which is that James’ series started out as fan fiction for Meyer’s series] that the ouroboros isn’t just biting its own tail, but crawling up its ass and eating its own digestive system.

Props to acquire for VTDL meets

Props to acquire for VTDL meets published on 1 Comment on Props to acquire for VTDL meets

I developed a schedule of themed meetups for VTDL:

  • January: New Year’s/General Winter
  • February: Valentine’s Day
  • March: St. Patrick’s Day
  • April: Easter
  • July: Independence Day
  • September: Back to School
  • October: Halloween
  • December: Christmas

I have some appropriate doll-scale props, but would like to acquire more, either in 1:4 scale or 1:3 scale, for entertaining photo ops. Anything with ** by it indicates that I can make it.

 

  • New Year’s: champagne flutes, party hats**, party noisemakers**, Happy New Year goggles
  • Valentine’s Day: valentine cards**, stuffed heart, teddy bear
  • St. Patrick’s Day: four-leaf clovers**, pot of gold, green hats, green beer
  • Easter: basket with fake grass, plastic eggs, wearable bunny ears**
  • Fourth of July: American flag, hats with stars and stripes, ridiculously large firework**
  • Back to School: backpack, notebook, writing implements, blackboard and chalk, globe
  • October: domino mask**, broom, scythe, trick-or-treat containers**
  • Christmas: Santa hats that actually fit**, wrapped presents**, seasonal cards

Jujube, Jeff, Dorothy, and some stuff

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I made Jeff a wig from some of my versicolor faux fur that looks mostly pink from the front, but contains orange streaks on the sides and back. Continue reading Jujube, Jeff, Dorothy, and some stuff

Monster High Megabloks as dolls for dolls

Monster High Megabloks as dolls for dolls published on 2 Comments on Monster High Megabloks as dolls for dolls

Mattel gave the Monster High license to Megabloks, the building brick company that is not Lego, and the Megablok playsets have recently made it up to the northern reaches of the US. At Toys R Us yesterday I picked up Ghoulia Yelps and her Creepariffic Lab, as well as Ghoulia and Clawdeen figures sold separately. Here’s my sold-separately Ghoulia hanging out in her little lab.Continue reading Monster High Megabloks as dolls for dolls

Rocky Horror at 40, or, “I finally sorted through that”

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The New York Times recently published an article on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the movie version of which is 40 years old this year. It’s an okay article, looking back on the musical’s difficult transition from stage show to movie and its blossoming into a “self-updating” cultural phenomenon. Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, and Lou Adler [film producer] reminisce on their roles and offer some analysis, while Richard O’Brien, who is apparently angry at Adler, refuses to contribute anything significant. I find most interesting the following excerpt about Curry:

Mr. Curry, who is recovering from a stroke he had in 2012, was happy to reminisce about his screen creation turning 40. But there was a time when he tried to distance himself from his most famous role because he worried it was holding him back. “I finally sorted through that,” he said. “I realized I’d been lucky. I still feel lucky.”

Magenta has words about luck.

 

Anyway, back off that necessary tangent, I find Curry’s change from rejection to acceptance illuminating. It reminds me of Leonard Nimoy’s distance from [I Am Not Spock] and ultimate embrace [I Am Spock] of his iconic role in Star Trek. I think that both of them started off feeling limited by their famous roles. They felt that people confused them with their characters and that they risked typecasting. Eventually, though, they each seemed to have reinterpreted the audience’s love for those roles/characters as an asset, rather than a liability. Curry, talking about luck, seems to be referring to the rare privilege of a performer who is so successful that they end up embodying some crucial cultural moment and thus becoming objects of endless passionate fascination. Very few performers ever hit that definition of success, and, while it may not be the sort of critical acclaim for one’s talents that perhaps Curry originally sought, he recognizes the significance of personifying the zeitgeist. It’s a pretty damn cool thing to do, and he gets to do it. I think it’s very wise of him to realize that struggling against the momentum is a waste of time and that accepting it, even if that means accepting that his life has gone otherwise to his plans, is easier.

 

I like Smart Dolls!

I like Smart Dolls! published on No Comments on I like Smart Dolls!

Smart Dolls, made by Culture Japan [a Japanese company], are a line of 1:3 scale vinyl dolls with highly articulated internal armatures. They follow the anime aesthetic, so the headsculpts have big square eyes, tiny pointy noses, and small lines for mouths, while the bodies are slim and long-limbed, with very perky breasts. Clothing includes your standard fare like maid outfits and school uniforms, but generally concentrates on more realistic, fashionable pieces like this drapey hippie top, these highly detailed cargo pants with working pockets, and the extra super awesome hijab and turtleneck combo. In other words, I think of Smart Dolls as Dollfie Dreams with none of the downsides of ridiculous expense, limited editions, wardrobe composed only of scanty items, and alarming breasts.

Creative projects #2: welcoming the new denizens of 1 12th Street

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Dorothy and Jeff joined Jujube today as the latest inhabitants of 1 12th Street! They neither starved nor froze on their flight from Great Britain to the US, as Sam, my trade partner, packed them with an unexpectedly large wardrobe of clothing and a significant amount of Rement. Though I did order some 1:12 scale clothing for them from Tabloach Productions, it has yet to arrive, so I found outfits for everyone from the goodies that Sam so generously included.

 

Dorothy and Jeff required some work before dressing, of course. First I wired Dorothy’s limbs with soft brass 22 gauge wire. While doing so, I got an intimate look at her default hair and faceup. Though her glued-on brown mohair ponytails have flattened with time and frizzed slightly, I decided that she was so danged cute that I didn’t want to redo either her hair or her faceup.

I then tried to wire Jeff similarly, but failed. The staff at Elfdoll originally strung her with overkill elastic in her arms that completely filled her tiny arm channels. I have no idea how they wedged such [comparatively] oversize elastic through such small holes. Anyway, while I succeeded with wiring her legs, I couldn’t do her arms.

I finally got rid of Jeff’s original arm elastic and restrung her upper limbs with 1mm beading elastic. Though I always operate under the assumption that working with tiny dolls differs radically from working with, say, 1:3 scale dolls, my experience tonight proved yet again that all of the techniques that I have learned with larger dolls may be applied to smaller dolls. Smaller dolls differ only in that their smaller size. In other words, stringing a 1:12 scale 14cm Elfdoll tiny is the same as stringing a 60cm B&G Dolls BJD like Araminthe. The only difference is that the difficulty increases as the size decreases. Anyway, the 1mm beading elastic provided enough spare space in Jeff’s arm channels for me to wire her arms — hooray!

 

After several hours of work, the roommates finally felt ready to pose for their first photo. While Jujube ultimately needs a 1:12 scale power wheelchair and Jeff needs hair, everyone is now in much better condition [and much better clothing] than they were before Dorothy and Jeff came in! Continue reading Creative projects #2: welcoming the new denizens of 1 12th Street

Recent creative projects #1: repurposing Halloween hair clips

Recent creative projects #1: repurposing Halloween hair clips published on No Comments on Recent creative projects #1: repurposing Halloween hair clips

I went to the hospital gift shop today and examined their Halloween display for seasonal goods that I could use for my dolls.Continue reading Recent creative projects #1: repurposing Halloween hair clips

Kanya Sesser skateboards and surfs on hands, models lingerie, kicks ass, prompts ableist “journalism”

Kanya Sesser skateboards and surfs on hands, models lingerie, kicks ass, prompts ableist “journalism” published on No Comments on Kanya Sesser skateboards and surfs on hands, models lingerie, kicks ass, prompts ableist “journalism”

23-year-old Californian skateboarder, surfer, Paralympian in training, motivational speaker, and lingerie model Kanya Sesser is unusual because she is a successful multisport athlete and model who was born without legs. She is definitely newsworthy because of her achievements in realms from with people with disabilities are all too frequently excluded. Her challenge to ableist beauty standards — “I’m different and that is sexy; I don’t need legs to feel sexy…These images show my strength” — also rates coverage, as the idea that people with visible physical disabilities are sexy, sexual, confident, and okay with their bodies is, unfortunately, a mind-blowing concept for most people. Yes! She is a cool person with notable achievements in fields uncommon for people with physical disabilities! The news media should definitely propagate her story!

 

That said, coverage needs to nix the “overcoming disability,”  “inspirational,”  and “something missing” angles, especially when Sesser obviously doesn’t promote them herself. The New York Daily News article to which I linked describes Sesser as “determined to overcome her disability” from her youth. Never mind the fact that Sesser says nothing about overcoming anything. She talks about “expressing [her]self in a different way than people usually see,” enjoying herself [“It’s something fun”], making money, and “showing people what beauty can look like.” These are not the words of a person “determined to overcome her disability.” These are the words of a person who has decided to campaign against ableist conceptions of beauty and ability by demonstrating that she, as a person with a disability, is attractive, expressive, playful, and sexy. Y’all need to stop putting words in Sesser’s mouth, clueless journos.

 

As for the “inspirational” and “something missing” argle bargle, it shows up in articles like this one from Bustle. The article introduces Sesser as someone with “the biggest reason to be bitter about” her body, but then goes on to say that “she’s got enough determination, drive, and talent to make up for” the fact that she does not have legs. A clip of an interview with Sesser is introduced as “inspiring advice.” Once again, the coverage is ignoring Sesser’s actual story. She says nothing about bitterness; that’s an editorial aside on the part of the writer, who assumes that a person with a physical disability would automatically feel bitter because of her bodily difference. Sesser also says nothing about compensating for her physical disability by working extra hard; again, this phrasing speaks to the ableist assumption that her disability creates an emptiness inherent in her life. Finally, Sesser never describes herself as inspirational. She’s not doing a Supercrip performance to elicit the ableist hordes’ condescending admiration. As she herself states [see first paragraph], she is living publicly as an athletically active, commercially successful person with a physical disability because she is explicitly challenging limited conceptions of what people with disabilities can do and be and how they can act. The ableist media needs to stop silencing her with its patronizing templates and let her speak for herself.

Today’s hair for Isabel

Today’s hair for Isabel published on No Comments on Today’s hair for Isabel

After recently determining that 3×5″ sample swatches of faux fur yield at least one, if not two, size 4 wigs apiece, I ordered some samples of versicolor faux fur. This is a multicolored pattern where, instead of appearing in discrete tufts or stripes, the various colors blend more organically in round-edged patches. The samples obtained from my preferred supplier, LuxuryFaux Fur on Etsy, have a surprisingly long pile, maybe about 4″, and fine, silky, high-quality fibers. I made Isabel wigs from two samples today: orange/pink/purple [top photo] and light pink/dark pink [bottom photo].Continue reading Today’s hair for Isabel

Jareth has been updated.

Jareth has been updated. published on No Comments on Jareth has been updated.

Wow, when was the last time I posted a render?

One of the things that I really like about having digital likenesses of my characters is that I can change them over time. Applying different complexions and make-up involves simply loading up new textures, while experimenting with their shapes requires pushing morph sliders around. Therefore I can make drastic alterations to them without committing to anything permanent.

 

I changed my digital likeness of Jareth recently in a pretty significant way. He used to be stylized and cartoony, but I thought I’d see what he looked like in a more realistic representation. Instead of basing the digital version of him on the digital sculpt I made for my Jareth BJD, this likeness is based on my approximation of David Bowie from about 1975, with a lot of ageing, sagging morphs added, as well as some emaciation and curviness. Check him out.Continue reading Jareth has been updated.

50 Farts #4, entry 5

50 Farts #4, entry 5 published on 1 Comment on 50 Farts #4, entry 5

Two contracts figure prominently in the 50 Farts trilogy. The first is a non-disclosure agreement, which the characters refer to as an “NDA,” which Christian requires Ana to sign before any sort of physical activity between them. This is a legally binding document which Ana signs immediately, without fully reading.

The other document, which the characters refer to as a “contract,” is a description of the practices, obligations, and expectations of a bdsm relationship between Christian [the “Dominant”] and Ana [the “Submissive”]. Christian wishes that Ana would agree to the contract with as much alacrity as she agreed to the NDA, but she and he engage in tedious, minute discussion of its contents. It is not a legally binding document.

E.L. James lavishes much more attention on the contract than the NDA. We get the full text of the contract, but only dismissive summary of the NDA. Ana doesn’t even analyze the NDA at all; in fact, she skips directly to the signature line. By contrast, she queries Christian about many aspects of the contract, and James treats the reader to their endless back-and-forth. Clearly, she finds the contract much more important than the NDA.

 

But wait a minute… Back up there, author. I’m still hung up on the fact that a) Christian trots out an NDA before all nookie and b) Ana signs it without any compunction. Who does this doofus think he is? Usually people whip out NDAs when they have big, important secrets and/or when they have audiences eager for [salacious] details about their lives. While Christian’s interest in bdsm counts as a big secret, we have no indication anywhere in the narrative universe that anyone would really give a crap. [Seriously…do gossip magazines and paparazzi have any significant role in this series? No.] Sure, if Christian were a hot Hollywood celebrity with a reputation and a brand to manage, he might have an NDA, but I’m not convinced he’s famous, only that he’s rich. I suppose that anyone with his amount of money automatically has a reputation that they care about, but I don’t see his NDA as Christian Grey [TM] brand management. I see it as a way for a control freaky drip to inflate his own sense of self-worth by throwing his weight around in the form of unnecessarily punitive legal nonsense.

 

As I said, I also have great reservations about Ana’s uncritical acceptance of Christian’s NDA. Look at it this way: As soon as Ana and Christian establish mutual interest in intimacy, Christian produces a document that basically requires Ana’s silence so that the relationship may continue. This immediately makes me wonder what he’s hiding. What doesn’t he want her to talk about? Why doesn’t he want her to talk? What bullshit is he trying to keep under wraps? Absent any narrative indication that anyone really cares what he’s doing, Christian’s NDA comes across as an excessively controlling gesture by an abusive wanker. Ana’s blithe disregard for this red flag shows her to be very inexperienced and clueless.

1 12th Street: where Jujube, Dorothy, and Jeff live

1 12th Street: where Jujube, Dorothy, and Jeff live published on No Comments on 1 12th Street: where Jujube, Dorothy, and Jeff live

I’ve decided that my growing interest in 1:12th scale requires a new universe for Jujube, Dorothy, Jeff, and anyone else with decides to join them. This universe, naturally, centers around the trio’s apartment on 1 12th Street, also known as House Rainbow Barf. As this universe’s main drag, 12th Street also contains any other sets I wish to add, such as the forest, the cemetery [which is the forest with gravestones], the diner, etc. Jujube, Dorothy, and Jeff will most likely appear in some photostories, especially if I ever get that diner set up and running…

Other creative projects this weekend: grave stands and Isabel’s wig

Other creative projects this weekend: grave stands and Isabel’s wig published on No Comments on Other creative projects this weekend: grave stands and Isabel’s wig

This weekend, I also made some stands for my Dellamorte gravestone magnets. Isabel kneels beside them while showing off another creation from yesterday: yet another faux fur wig.Continue reading Other creative projects this weekend: grave stands and Isabel’s wig

Polly has been helped: new hair and dress

Polly has been helped: new hair and dress published on 1 Comment on Polly has been helped: new hair and dress

Recent creative efforts this weekend included a new wig for Polly and a new dress, made from Andrea’s Barbie Angel Wing Trapeze Dress pattern. In this case, it’s more properly called Angel OF DEATH Trapeze Dress, since there are skulls all over it. :p Apparently I have a rather morbid little mermaid… ^_^Continue reading Polly has been helped: new hair and dress

1:12 scale stuff I already have

1:12 scale stuff I already have published on No Comments on 1:12 scale stuff I already have

As much as I like acquiring new miniature things, I just realized that I can use many of my 1:6 scale sets and accessories for 1:12 scale. Forthwith, a list of what I have in sets and medium-size things that can work in 1:12 scale:

 

  • everything in House Rainbow Barf
  • entire forest set, with the exception of the pine trees
  • Dellamorte tombstone magnets
  • Rement yellow dresser with lamp on top
  • Rement Beauty Counter
  • shojo screen
  • potted cacti and bonsai
  • some yellow and blue crockery
  • globe [pencil sharpener]
  • many of my Rements and smaller items in the lidded plastic trays, notably including jukebox, coffee maker, dish drainer, swing lid trash can, metal cash register, grey laptop, Rement toys, Rement office supplies, Rement food and kitchen utensils, most books, most decor

 

I see that I’m pretty well stocked with accessories, but I really need some basic furniture in 1:12 scale: a table, some chairs, a counter, a full bookshelf, an empty set of shelves for stuff, a bed…

 

Or I could eschew those pieces that I already have in 1:6 scale and go for a set I’ve always wanted: a diner! Sure, I have my Barbie Coke Soda Fountain in 1:6 scale, but I want booth seating and greasy food! What I really want is the AG Minis set Lil’s Diner by American Girl, makers of Groovy Room House Rainbow Barf. Of all AG Minis, though, Lil’s Diner proved the most popular, so it sells for disgusting amounts on Ebay, which means I’m not going to acquire it.

 

As I think about what I really want in a diner set, I come up with the following:

  • booth seating [vinyl benches with backs]
  • table with rounded corners and chrome accents
  • bright decor with chrome, checkerboard flooring, and neo-retro posters
  • jukebox
  • greasy food
  • condiments, napkin dispenser, menus, etc.
  • window with slatted blinds

I’ve got the jukebox, the greasy food, and the condiments etc. I can print out menus and neo-retro posters with no problem. I’m just missing the booth and the table. Hmmmm…

Timonium’s improved feets and outfit

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I finally got around to painting Timonium’s fairy feets in a dried blood color. I did solid color up past his ankles, then mixed the paint with some acrylic gel. I don’t know what the gel is intended for, but it diluted the paint so that I got a lighter, runnier application. I applied the diluted paint in a fade up over his calves. Then I used my Xacto knife to scrape the paint in the solid areas, texturing it and chipping off small bits, while also making the division between the solid color and the diluted color less regular. If there were any areas where I had scraped away paint completely, I filled them in with more diluted paint, as I wasn’t looking for the high contrast between plain resin and red paint, but a less obvious distinction between dark red and light red. Then I sealed the hell out of the paint. Continue reading Timonium’s improved feets and outfit

Doll recycling: welcome back, Dorothy and Jeff!

Doll recycling: welcome back, Dorothy and Jeff! published on No Comments on Doll recycling: welcome back, Dorothy and Jeff!

In the past, I had an Elfdoll 14cm tiny Dodo and an Elfdoll 14cm Kai. Dodo, called Dorothy, was the BJD of one of my previous 1:3 scale BJDs, Sarah. Kai, called Waverley, was a minor character in LHF. I sold both of them in summer, 2012, then spent the next three years regretting it. Jujube, my remaining 1:12 scale BJD, had no friends and hung out in her Operation Rainbow Barf house all by herself, much to my dismay.Continue reading Doll recycling: welcome back, Dorothy and Jeff!

New hair makes Polly look better.

New hair makes Polly look better. published on No Comments on New hair makes Polly look better.

I found a size 4 Pinky wig [the same style as that which I originally intended for my Cutey Honey, but recently ruined] in light greenish blue in my doll supplies drawer. It looked like it might go well with Polly’s tail, so I tried it on her.

Continue reading New hair makes Polly look better.

Polly needs help.

Polly needs help. published on No Comments on Polly needs help.

I’ve decided that I did a rushed and messy job on Polly’s first iteration, so she needs improvements.

 

  • Cut off original ears. Replace with finny ears supplied with default Asleep Eidolon head.
  • Remove old faceup; clean head aggressively before resealing.
  • Redo faceup in same two colors [slate blue and cerulean], but incorporating bubbles somehow.
  • Make Andrea’s Angel Sleeve Trapeze Barbie Dress for her new outfit.

 

Just for future reference, here is the text of Andrea’s instructions for the dress pattern:

 

 

Cut out pieces following solid black lines, including the line between body and sleeves. Dotted lines indicate where stitching will be.

 

Sew shoulder seams back to front, right sides together.

 

Sew facing to neckline opening, right sides together, matching center fronts. [Back openings will NOT line up.] Clip seam allowances. Turn facing to inside; top stitch.

 

Hem sleeves. If attaching trim to sleeves, do so now.

 

Sew body side seam and sleeve side seam front to back, right sides together. Clip seam under arm where direction changes. Turn right side out and press seam open. Finger pressing should be fine. Repeat for other side.

 

Hem bottom of dress. Attach trim now if desired.

 

If dress will be closed with Velcro, attach it before sewing center back seam. If dress will be closed with snaps or hooks, sew center back seam to dot first. Then attach fasteners. Press center back seam to one side [to top side, folded over for fasteners].

 

Done!

“Dude…I’m, like, so high right now.”

“Dude…I’m, like, so high right now.” published on No Comments on “Dude…I’m, like, so high right now.”

In this 1973 promo video for “Angie,” the Stones are either really stoned or pretending to be very effectively. [Nice gold nail polish, Mick.] I really like this song, especially the way in which Mick Jagger turns the title into some four- or five-syllable plaint. It’s a rare example of the Rolling Stones showing up their talents without being misogynist shitheads. And here’s a 1995 live version, more familiar to my ears, with less stoned behavior, but some odd hand motions.

VTDL attendance trends slowly upward

VTDL attendance trends slowly upward published on No Comments on VTDL attendance trends slowly upward

I did a scatter plot graph of attendance numbers for VTDL since its inception in August, 2011. Attendance seems to be slowly increasing; we seem to generally have about 5 attendees per meetup, which is a lot more than the 2 or 3 we regularly had in the first 12 months. Continue reading VTDL attendance trends slowly upward

Roger’s unfortunate nickname and the history of the F word

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Dr. Paul Booth of Keele University was looking through Chester County [UK] Court plea rolls for 1310, where he discovered mention of “Roger Fuckebythenavele,” who was in the process of being outlawed. Because Roger was referred to in this way on three separate occasions, Booth opines that “Fuckebythenavele” is Roger’s nickname, as opposed to the clerk’s private joke. Booth further conjectures that the derisive epithet refers to someone who is particularly incompetent and clueless in sexual activities. Those etymologists who thought that “fuck” first appeared in English about 200 years later find Booth’s discovery very exciting.

 

Most of the news reports stop with Booth’s putative source of the name, thereby failing to take up some truly interesting questions. I, for one, am less interested in this example as a proof of the longer lifespan of “fuck” and more about its implications for Roger. For example, why is Roger recorded with a nickname surname? Surely he has an actual last name, so why is it not used? Is this nickname like a rap artist’s name, by which almost everyone knows Roger publicly, to the exclusion of his legal name? If that’s the case, though, wouldn’t he be referred to as “Roger [Legal Surname,] known as Roger Fuckebythenavele”?

 

In a broader context, what does Roger’s nickname tell us about the use of “fuck” in Chester County in the early 1300s? Just how insulting was it? What level of taboo did it carry? For example, would the modern equivalent of this be “Roger Navelscrew” [humorous, acceptable in print, broadcast media, and casual speech, but rude] or “Roger Fucknavel” [still humorous, but vulgar, unacceptable in most print, broadcast media, and general common speech]? Does the appearance of “Fuckebythenavele” in a legal document suggest that the word was more acceptable in everyday speech than it is now?

 

I’m also curious about nicknames in general during this period. Do other similar nicknames appear — i.e., Sue Shit-in-soup or Peter Piss-in-bed? How commonly are such epithets used? Can we determine if they are supposed to be taken as shocking insults, as amusing jokes, or something in between? Can we draw any conclusions about the social status of people likely to have such nicknames?

 

In other words, this snippet of information makes me want to know more about Roger!

A frustrating evening with digital and 1:6 scale dolls

A frustrating evening with digital and 1:6 scale dolls published on 1 Comment on A frustrating evening with digital and 1:6 scale dolls

I had one of those evenings where I felt dissatisfied with all my accomplishments. Continue reading A frustrating evening with digital and 1:6 scale dolls

50 Farts #4: entry 4

50 Farts #4: entry 4 published on No Comments on 50 Farts #4: entry 4

P. 117: Christian has one of his inane flashbacks: “Mommy is happy. She is singing. / Singing about what love has to do with it. / And cooking. And singing. / My tummy gurgles. She is cooking bacon and waffles. / They smell so good. My tummy likes bacon and waffles. / They smell so good.” The slashes indicate line breaks. I’m sad to report that this is a typical flashback into young Christian’s point of view. He appears to consolidate many of James’ worst writing habits into the space of a short scene: telling and not showing, useless paragraph breaks, redundancy, stating the obvious, overkill, and redundancy [hah!]. James does not know how to differentiate characters’ voices, much less how to write a young child.

 

P. 124: Christian’s talking about his penis: “I want you to become well acquainted, on first-name terms, if you will, with my favorite and most cherished part of my body. I’m very attached to this.” Nobody talks like this, especially not a rich 27-year-old college drop-out billionaire. It’s just hammy, redundant, and ridiculous. I am sure that there are people who act like their penises are their “most cherished” body parts, but I highly doubt these people would express those sentiments in the above terms. They’re probably telling people to suck it [literally].

As for the last sentence, again Christian illustrates that he has something like an anti-sense of humor. I think we’re supposed to take that line at face value — i.e., he really feels emotionally “attached to” his penis. Sorry, Christian — I’m just too hung up on the fact that the adjective you used to describe your interest in your penis also literally describes the physical state of every single other body part of yours. I hope you’re attached to your penis, Christian, ’cause it’s attached to you physiologically. Christian’s apparent inability to recognize that words have more than one meaning [ref. his earlier, unremarked description of his unhappiness as “gray”] makes him sound really obtuse. He has got to be one of the world’s dullest and most literal people.

 

Better eyes x1, better hair x2 — slow going with doll restyling

Better eyes x1, better hair x2 — slow going with doll restyling published on No Comments on Better eyes x1, better hair x2 — slow going with doll restyling

I’m getting some 16mm low-dome Captured in Glass glass eyes for Thalia. They have white whites, black irises, and white pupils [ET2]. I would prefer black whites, black irises, and white pupils, but CiG doesn’t sell them.

 

My Takara Cy Girl Cutey Honey, last seen shorn of her brittle factory rooted red hair [back in April!], has on order a size 4 Monique wig, style Pinky [chin-length bubble bob with bangs], in a violently bright red. Now I either need to fix her sword, which broke at the VTDL meetup where I decided to remove her original hair, or get her a new one — preferable made of actual metal, so it has less chance of snapping.

 

I have discovered the intoxicating glories of dollyhair.com, from which I will eventually buy hair for Timonium’s spiky, Jarethian hair. The proprietor offers so many types of hair in so many colors that I hope to obtain some free samples of the various dark reds to see which would work best for Timonium. He has the tips of his ears painted a color that looks very close to that of dried or scabbed-over blood, so I want the same for his hair.

 

I remember that my original concept for Timonium included splatters on his feet and legs, as if he had been walking through gore. I also remember that I never did this because, for some reason, I was unsure about how to accomplish this. Now, though, the process seems so self-evident — I should clearly just coat his legs with a few layers of matte sealant for a base, mix up some paint, and make a mess like I usually do.

 

I realize that I haven’t decided what to do for Fritillaria’s eyes. I kind of like the idea of pinpoint pupils and huge irises dominated by red and white hypno spirals, but I really should mock that up first…

 

26 letters of meeeeee!: variations of my name throughout the alphabet

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I recently challenged myself to find at least one variant of my name for each letter of the English alphabet. I’m missing 10 letters, but here’s what I have so far:

A is for Ailsa.

B is for Bettina.

C is for Chabella.

D is for ?????

E is for Elizabeth.

F is for ?????

G is for ?????

H is for ?????

I is for Isabel.

J is for Jeliszaveta.

K is for ?????

L is for Liz.

M is for ?????

N is for ?????

O is for Orszebet.

P is for Peka [short for Elikapeka, the Hawaiian version].

Q is for ?????

R is for ?????

S is for Sibeal.

T is for Tib.

U is for ?????

V is for Veta [short for Jeliszaveta].

W is for Wiz.

X is for Xabete [short for Elixabete, the Basque version].

Y is for Yeghisabet.

Z is for Zabby.

From Ailsa to Zsoka and everything in between

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As I mentioned a while back, all the digital hairstyles I have created are named after variants or nicknames of my name. Flush with creativity, I have been constructing digital hair like mad — about nine or ten hairstyles in the past three weeks. All but one [Receding Ponytail] is named after me. I’ve tried to distribute the names throughout the alphabet so they neither cluster around the same letters [like E and B], nor overlap confusingly. Names I have used so far are as follows:

  • Ailsa
  • Aliza/Aliza 2.0
  • Bess
  • [Messy] Bessy
  • Bethiah
  • Elisheva
  • Elspeth
  • Izzy
  • Jeliszavet
  • Lillibet
  • Liziko
  • Orszebet
  • Sibeal
  • Ybel
  • Zabby
  • Zabelle
  • Zsoka

My favorite variants are the ones that either start with an unusual letter and/or connect less obviously to the source. In terms of unusual beginnings, I’m especially partial to Jeliszavet and Yelizaveta [a name I used for a character morph I created]. For less obvious derivatives, I really like Ailsa, Sibeal, Ybel, and Zsoka.

One could probably span an alphabet with variations on my name, even including especially ornery letters like J, W, Y, and Z. I bet I could do it!

 

Finally got around to watching Utena’s Adolescence

Finally got around to watching Utena’s Adolescence published on No Comments on Finally got around to watching Utena’s Adolescence

I really should have read the manga or watched the series Revolutionary Girl Utena first, but, frankly, I wanted to find out the context of Utena transmogrifying into a car at the end of the movie. I am not sure that I succeeded, as I had to follow the plot summary on Wikipedia in order to get anything out of the series of events, but it was a wild ride nonetheless.

Utena’s Adolescence was not a particularly comprehensible introduction to the story. Nevertheless, I loved it. I love the way that the setting, Ohtori Academy, apparently exists on a series of endlessly moving platforms, gliding slowly through the sky, connected by infinite elevators and staircases. I love that the scale of the architecture makes all the characters seem both insignificant and caught in a labyrinth. I love that wind comes up out of nowhere and starts making Utena and Anthy’s hair seethe dramatically whenever the emotional pitch heightens. I love that endless gardens of red roses create showers of petals streaming down or eruptions of petals flying upward as punctuation to nearly every scene.  I love that the reliance on slow pans through a scene give the film a hallucinogenic sense. I love that water [rain, fountains, car wash] appears whenever a character transforms or moves from one world to another. I actually even love that Utena turns into a car at the end, and Anthy drives her away from the dream world, and the film ends with Utena human again, entwined with Anthy, both of them naked, speeding through a grey wasteland on the bare chassis of the car that Utena used to be [?!], their hair seething in heightened drama. Clearly everyone who worked on this film was enjoying themselves immensely and carefully crafting every single element to emulate the lacunae, logic, and layers of an engrossing dream. Primarily I appreciate this movie for successfully creating the seductive, immersive, vaguely sinister atmosphere of a dream, and the fact that it focuses on two young women, Utena and Anthy, struggling against the toxic bonds of heteronormative institutions, makes it much more interesting than if the main characters were some hetero couple.

 

I can definitely dig the interpretation, mentioned in the Wikipedia article, that this movie takes place in the land of the dead…or, alternatively, all inside Utena’s head [or maybe Anthy’s].

Fritillaria has been ordered!

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I just ordered a Withdoll Adriana [Repuria Island of Fog Circus Girl special edition] this morning. She’s coming naked and unpainted, with no extras, in cream white resin. There are three tones of white WD resin. Unmodified white seems to be a pure white, untinged with any other color, while rose white has a pink undertone. Cream white has a yellow undertone; I selected it because the yellow reflects the patina of age that I would like to emulate.

I remain uncertain about whether to give her an articulated jaw. I’m afraid of making an irreversible mess on her, but it would look so damn cool!

Superhero and/or drag queen and/or dominatrix names

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Anna Phylaxis.

 

 

 

Vivian Oblivion.

Hmmm, you know what would be an interesting story? A woman who works as a professional domme and has secret, shameful dreams of being a modern comic-book superhero. She imagines herself as a brave person who uses the element of surprise to scare the crap out of evildoers and then her imposing physicality to thwart them. Clearly we have some wish fulfillment here, as she has neither a generally imposing personality or physicality.

But of course she feels conflicted about her superheroic interests. For one thing, she imagines beating up people in a sloppy, raw, brutal way — concussions, broken teeth, de-socketed shoulders, crushed toes — that produces a maximum amount of mess and suffering. From this she feels a vindictive satisfaction in her fantasies, but the very existence of such thoughts horrifies her because she would never, ever, ever do something like that outside of her head. She abhors and abjures violence; in fact, she has a history of pro-peace, anti-war activism. Nevertheless, inflicting retaliatory pain has a seductive appeal for her inside her head.

 

For another thing, there’s all that sexualization and objectification mixed up in concepts of superheroic women. Some of that appears in her imaginings, as when she imagines herself as a femme fatale with weaponized accoutrements of femininity [i.e., stabbing heels, garrotting jewelry, poisonous lipstick]. This really disturbs her because her gender presentation is more like casual, sensible femme, and she thinks that she’s probably internalizing some societal misogyny or something.

 

Insert exploration of and commentary on roleplaying, shame, secrecy, power, powerlessness, the link of fantasy to reality, etc., here. Obviously someone needs to figure out how to relate to her deep wellsprings of RAGE!!!!

Number 4 in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy: entry #1

Number 4 in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy: entry #1 published on No Comments on Number 4 in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy: entry #1

E.L. James recently busted out with the super-imaginatively titled Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian. Naturally, given how much fun I had with the first three books of the trilogy, I just had to check out book 4. This time, I’m prepared: I have my tablet computer beside me to record my thoughts as I read. Forthwith, my discussion of the first 43 pages:

 

“Copyright 2011, 2015.” I assume that the 2011 date means when this was written. How does that compare to the chronology of the first three books? I am having trouble finding out when the original trilogy was drafted as fanfic, as it’s generally referred to by its official publication date, of which the first was in 2011. Basically I wonder whether this book was a part of the original story or whether it was written to capitalize on the enthusiastic reception that the first three received. James’ dedication of the book to “those readers who asked…and asked…and asked for this” suggests the latter. It’s the Midnight Sun of 50 Shades!

On that note, has anyone asked Stephenie Meyer what she thinks of her opus being an inspiration for this? As she espouses conservatively heteronormative concepts of sex, I have no doubt that she would feel disquieted and disapproving.

 

P. 3: The book begins with a dream from young Christian’s point of view in which he tries to get his mom’s attention by throwing toy cars at her, to which she calls him “maggot.” Upon waking up, modern Christian asks himself, “What the hell was that about?”

I can tell you what it was about, you dipstick — it was about your miserable childhood and your miserable relationship with your abusive mom! I suppose James is trying for sympathy here by making Christian a lost, lonely little boy. However, his ignorance about what the hell that means seems almost willful and pathetic instead of provoking sympathy. Well, it’s provoking, all right, but I don’t think it’s provoking what James intended it to provoke.

P. 4: “My mood is as flat and gray as the weather.” We have no evidence of this. Yet again, James prefers to tell, rather than show. Also Christian is apparently using “gray” as a synonym for “bleak” in all seriousness, with no acknowledgment whatsoever of the fact that he has just canonically, implicitly equated his own surname with depressingness. To me, this illustrates [yet again] his lack of even the most basic self-awareness, as well as his tragic, chronic, acute lack of a sense of humor.

 

I mean really! Realistically, people pay attention to these things. I have a character in my mini universe named Grey [partly as part of my attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of one of my favorite words and colors from its recent association with 50 Shades of Poo]. She’s introduced by someone who opines that she’s so boring that even her name is Grey, and his interlocutor says, “Like the color?” [Yes, like the color.] I find it really irritating that Christian doesn’t seem to recognize the metaphorical potential in his own name.

 

Now I kinda want to write more about Grey because, even in the brief appearances she’s made in the mini universe, she exhibits more intriguingness and depth than Christian….

“…[T]he only thing to capture my interest recently has been my decision to send two freighters of cargo to Sudan.” I’d be more convinced of Christian’s interest if he provided some more details, like what he was shipping, exactly where he was shipping it, how he felt about his shipments, and why this decision stood out for him amongst the grey [har har] dullness of his life. As it is, he’s just claiming that the only exciting thing he’s done recently is to send two loads of stuff to a place. Consider my interest supremely uncaptured.

P. 6: Ana comments on the paintings on Christian’s wall, saying that they’re “raising the ordinary to extraordinary.” Christian judges this to be a “keen observation.” I might believe him if James gave us some detail about the “ordinary” contents of the art and how the artist made them “extraordinary.”  I’m not asking for William Carlos Williams and his red wheelbarrow charged with significance here, just a little more foundation for these otherwise baseless claims.

P. 7: “Grey, stop this now. … Stop being such a shit, Grey.” Christian talks to himself in exactly the same way that we had to suffer Ana’s internal monologue for three books. Fortunately, though, we have yet to see his subconscious or his inner goddess [or its equivalent]. [Incidentally, I’d be enthralled if Christian had an inner goddess. But no, that’s much too potentially interesting for such a straight-and-narrow author.] As for the advice that he gives himself, he’d do us all a favor if he took it, but then there’d be no story….

P. 13: Ana says, “Don’t let me keep you from anything.”

Christian’s inner monologue says, “Oh no, baby. It’s my turn now.” He has this irritating habit of calling Ana “baby” in his head; she doesn’t even really have a name to him. He’s just thinking of her as one of an interchangeable series of submissive brunettes.

 

Well, I guess I can’t complain about James telling instead of showing here. Christian’s behavior very clearly shows him paying zilcho respect to Ana. He thinks of her solely in terms of an object to give him pleasure as he hits her and uses her for sexual release.

 

One of Christian’s [many] problems lies in his control freakery. He has made the acquisition and exercise of control central to his identity. Therefore he controls everything, which, for him, includes playing the dominant role in his bdsm games. He sees the dominant role not as a role, but as an expression of self, an extension of his essence. He assumes that he should automatically be in control because that’s who he is.

 

Thus he completely neglects the negotiation common to a lot of bdsm practice. This negotiation, in which the participants talk about what their interests are and what roles they want to take, is an opportunity to ensure that all participants are getting what they want out of their games. Christian, though, doesn’t negotiate; he only cares about what others want insofar as it aligns with his compulsive control freakery. He doesn’t use bdsm games as a way to connect with participants, only to reassure himself that the world does indeed revolve around his straight white cis rich Western dude penis.

 

There is an interesting idea in here somewhere about a desperately empty person who confuses control with selfhood and, for some reason, turns to bdsm games in an attempt to fill himself up. However, I would find this story much more engaging if the pursuit of bdsm games provoked this desperately empty person to think about elective roleplaying. He could reflect that, while the role of control freak was an ingrained habit, it was also a role, not the totality of his existence, but a facet of himself that he could choose to perpetuate, alter, or nix. He could realize that he was neither necessarily nor solely a control freak; he could be other than a control freak! He could be someone who could play the control freak for bdsm games, and then, in the rest of his life, explore other roles, of which control freak would be only one. In other words, he could chill out and learn that he was a lot more multi-faceted than a desperately empty control freak. You know, a well-rounded, sympathetic human being. However, because this conditional tangent involves carefully considered character development and a slightly more nuanced discussion of the uses of bdsm games, we won’t be reading it in this book.

 

Where was I? Oh yeah, page 13. At this rate, I’ll never make it past the first chapter…

P. 16: He does a background check on Ana?! Oh, that’s real sexy.

P. 19: “I mainly shop online for my needs, but while I’m here, maybe I’ll stock up on a few items: Velcro, split rings  — Yeah. I’ll find the delectable Miss Steele and have some fun.” Okay, so it’s confirmed that Christian abuses his wealth to find out where Ana works, then goes way out of his way to her workplace to “have some fun” by ordering bdsm supplies with her help and watching her squirm at his innuendo. Hmmm, yes, because being manipulated by an arrogant, condescending, self-centered, power-hungry, pathologically possessive stalker turns everyone on.

Stop being such a shit, Grey!

P. 43: Christian is talking about Jude the Obscure and Tess of the d’Urbervilles: “Both are bleak books, with tragic themes. Hardy had a dark, twisted soul.

“Like me.”

Get over yourself, for God’s sake! If you really believe that you’re an unlovable wretch, there are less pretentious ways of expressing that sentiment than by straight-up comparing yourself to Thomas Hardy. This is only acceptable if you’re like 15, and you’ve just finished a unit on dead white British dudes of the 1800s in second period sophomore English. Even then, though, such a simile is in really questionable taste.

 

 

 

Playful, detailed, cute felt food

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The felt food toys at the FeltFoodTruck on Etsy immediately charm me with their use of bright, bold felt from recycled plastics. Add to this the masterful inclusion of realistic details, such as ridges on crinkle-cut fries and texture on chicken nuggets, and the products from this felt smorgasbord just amaze me. I think I know where I can finally get Yamarrah’s creemee — I’ll commission a black raspberry one in a sugar cone with five or so swirls of ice cream. Yamarrah will be happy!

Fritillaria concept

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Mocked up my idea for Fritillaria just now. I left out eyes because I’m not sure what to do for them, but I purposely left off eyebrows, which I’m not seeing a need for. Black lines down from the corners of the mouth indicate where her jaw joint would be, assuming I decide to have it cut, rather than painted. That black thing on her head is a skull cap, as I am not a noted fan of wigs on my BJDs.Continue reading Fritillaria concept

Fritillaria the marionette soubrette

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While I was on DOA last night, I found an announcement for the recent Withdoll release Adriana. The Repuria Island of Fog edition, called Circus Girl, is a knife-throwing character. Knives and domino, as well as black, flowy costume, are optional. She comes with two headsculpts, one regular and one with craquelare-like crazing sculpted into her face.

 

I, of course, like the “cracked head,” as Withdoll calls it. I would like to get this doll and make her into Fritillaria the marionette soubrette. I’d dress her in black and white, with a ruff and diamonds, similar to but not copying the Fashion Royalty Nippon Amelie and Misaki dolls designed by Poupee Mecanique. She’d be a marionette who jumped her strings, so I’d screw eyehooks in her head, hands, and feet, then tie broken strings to them. I would also like to give her a movable jaw like a ventriloquist’s dummy, but I’m not sure how that would work. Maybe I could hire someone to do the cuts…

 

I like the wide cheeks, the little pointy chin, and the skijump nose.

Thalia, latest exemplar of my signature style

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My signature style takes inspiration from gesture drawings and caricature. Gesture drawings reveal a quick, loose line that nevertheless finds a strong, organic flow. I like to capture this rough, sketchy, open-ended, expressive quality in my paint jobs. In other words, they’re messy. :p

 

I also, as I have repeatedly noted, take design cues from caricature, in which salient features are exaggerated to the point of ostentatiousness. Limited palettes with bright colors appeal to me. The darks need to be darker, the lights lighter, the sheens shinier. MORE IS BETTER.

 

Finally, my signature style has a sarcastic, silly sense of humor. While I seriously like the “more is better” concept, I also find it hilarious. The sheer weight and boldness of Sardonix’ indelible eyebrows amuse me. Yamarrah’s ice cream earrings, ice cream sweatshirt, and creemee props become even more entertaining when I juxtapose them with her flaming eyebrows, head-on-fire wig, and speed-flame shoes. The clothes I commissioned for Jareth, with their indiscriminate proliferation of layers, ruffles, textures, and gradations of the same color, take coordination [or lack thereof] to a laughable extreme. Thalia’s morbid Gothic skullface makeup and phalanges tattoos on her hands become a source of comedy when paired with her flowery skull shirt and skull-and-crossbones loafers. Bold, messy overkill is a gas.

 

And here are some pictures of Thalia’s faceup in progress, illustrating exactly what I mean. I wonder if she should have eyes that match her tongue in color…Continue reading Thalia, latest exemplar of my signature style

Mellifer do-over

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I’ve always liked Soom’s 2008 May MD, Sard Night Odyssey, supposedly their attempt at a Taurus doll, who had hooves, horns, and wings before all the other dolls did. Though I never got this doll, I did get Soom Faery Legend Metato, a 1:6 scale version of Sard [“Diet Sard, now in fun size!”] without fantasy parts, in the form of Mellifer, who satisfies my desire for the headsculpt in a more portable, discreet rendition.

 

Anyway, since my active interest in BJDs has resurfaced in the past few days, I have been thinking back to my wishes earlier this year to restyle various dolls. I wanted to redo Mellifer then, but didn’t know how. Well, now I know — I will give him some hooves and horns, as well as a tail, so he can be a satyr like Sard Night Odyssey!

 

While many companies make hooved legs for dolls of all sizes, I’m not sure where I could procure some for Mellifer…

Spend it!!!: money in savings tempts BJD purchase

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I have about $926.00 in savings at the moment, which means that, after a long period of bemoaning financial pinchedness, I am now, as the vulgar expression puts it, Rolling In Dough. Naturally, with the Dough comes the temptation to Blow It.

I am admiring from afar a fullset Ringdoll Frankenstein 2013 on the DOA marketplace. He comes with all the bells, whistles, wheezers, and grommets shown on the official sales page, as well as jointed hands and the 2011 original issue Frankenstein head, which I like better than the pissier 2013 one. The design and sculpt of the doll hit all my cyborg and robot buttons. I’m especially enamored with the openable porthole for his heart and the translucent headcap, through which his brain can be seen. This is the sort of doll that, if I had, I would keep as is because I find the concept and execution beautiful.

I can see the conversation now:

“So…are you supposed to be all mopey and murderous?”

“I think you’re confusing me with Frankenstein’s monster.”

“So you’re *not* Frankenstein’s monster?”

“Do I *look* like Frankenstein’s monster?”

“Yes.”

“Scratch that. I’m *not* Frankenstein’s monster.”

“Oh right. You’re ‘Frankenstein.'”

“Hey! Don’t blame *me* for Ringdoll’s confusion between the creator and the monster.”

“Do you have a name? Or should we just call you ‘Frankenstein?'”

“It’s going to be a real pain to do air quotes every time you want to refer to me. Call me Jim.”

“‘Jim?!’ Whose idea was that?”

“The same person whose idea it was to call you after a city in Maryland, ‘Timonium.'”

“Quit it with the air quotes!”

12-year-old would-be murderers in the name of Slenderman

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When they were 12 years old in 2014, Anissa Weier and and Morgan Geyser stabbed fellow member of their social circle Paxton, called Bella, ostensibly in tribute to Slenderman, whose acolytes they wished to become. The seductive, illicit thrill of the relationship between Weier and Geyser, as well as the motives entangled in a shared fictional universe, reminds me of the 1954 Parker Hulme murder case. The same key elements — two girls causing harm to someone, with motives entangled in a shared fictional universe — call the comparison to mind, though Parker and Hulme were older [15 and 16], and they successfully killed Parker’s mom. It’s interesting that paracosms figured into both crimes, although I have no conclusive thoughts on the subject.

Cat baffled by cat door

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This picture of a cat failing to use the cat door entertains me. It also reminds me that Babycat has, on several occasions, considered herself trapped behind the [freely movable] shower curtain between living room and kitchen [used to keep heat in the most-used end of the apartment] and thus tragically, alarmingly separated from her mom. Distress calls have resulted, along with pathetic pawing against the curtain.

Update on creative endeavors #2: Isabel’s shitty shirt

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In the past few days, I finished off another shirt for Isabel based on Andrea’s pattern. I have concluded that all the shirts I am making from this pattern will of necessity look disappointing, not as a function of the pattern, but because the pattern is not made exactly for Isabel’s measurement. For example, the pattern features shoulders that are too high and armscyes that are too big.

I tried to fit this shirt better to Isabel by lowering the tops of the shoulders. This tactic successfully reduced the amount of loose fabric around the upper chest. However, because I did not lower the back of the neck as well, the collar remains high up, looking silly. Next time I’ll just modify the pattern, rather than hacking at a partly sewn shirt. Oh well, at least the fit around the lower torso is okay…Continue reading Update on creative endeavors #2: Isabel’s shitty shirt

Update on creative endeavors #1: Thalia the neverending project

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The next meetup of VTDL heralds the return of the popular Halloween theme. I finally have an incentive to complete Thalia, as her skeletal aesthetic will make for a perfect Samhain debut. Of course, I haven’t made much progress since the last time we saw her early in July with faceup plans penciled all over her face. But here she is again.

First I painted the inside of her mouth black. Then I used Pebeo and an Xacto knife to remove black paint from her teeth and wherever else it wasn’t supposed to go. At the same time, I painted one of her tongues [the licking one, as opposed to the sticking-out one]. Then I did her face in white and gave her some temporary red eyes, as I haven’t made her specific ones yet. Pictures follow.
Continue reading Update on creative endeavors #1: Thalia the neverending project

Amandla Stenberg talks cultural appropriation…

Amandla Stenberg talks cultural appropriation… published on No Comments on Amandla Stenberg talks cultural appropriation…

…in the context of dreads, grills, and other items coopted by white haute couture. She explains the process of cultural appropriation: Black people active in the hip-hop scene start wearing dreads, and the white mainstream culture contemns them. Then white people start wearing dreads, for which they receive universal accolades as super cool trendsetters. So basically cultural appropriation occurs when a cultural group that’s looked down upon at large does something, which is then deracinated from its origin, decontextualized, and celebrated in the dominant culture without serious reference to its source.

 

With this in mind, I’m thinking that cultural appropriation necessitates hegemonic contempt and steamrolling for the marginalized group that is being imitated. Thus people of color straightening their hair in the U.S. does not constitute cultural appropriation, even though some ill-informed commenters on Stenberg’s video think it is. That’s because the hair straightening is not motivated by disgust and a desire for decontextualized absorption. Hair straightening, rather, is a way in which marginalized POC are negotiating the beauty standards of dominant white culture, in which straight, controlled, smooth hair is valued. Hair straightening by POC is born of an acute knowledge of the hegemonic beauty standards and the value placed thereon, while dreads on famous white people represent a fantasy of ahistorical, ameoboid cultural engulfment.

Have you ever seen something so beautiful you want to weep?

Have you ever seen something so beautiful you want to weep? published on No Comments on Have you ever seen something so beautiful you want to weep?

I have, and it’s this model by 3D-GHDesign, Fara Hair, an exuberant fountain of dreadlocks for G2F. It’s very hard to set aside the distracting bullshit exoticism of the promo pictures [because of course a WOC needs an outfit adorned with leopard print and claw accessories :p ], which makes me want to weep out of frustration, but I am also very impressed by the sheer loft achieved by these amazing digital dreads. The inclusion of a head wrap, usable by itself, improves Fara a thousandfold. I feel a sudden urge to remove the hair model from the stinky promo pictures and use it on some digital people who could demonstrate its awesomeness without resorting to stereotypes.

I like Steven Universe!

I like Steven Universe! published on No Comments on I like Steven Universe!

Now that I’ve watched every single episode except for that April Fool’s one, I have to state that I love Steven Universe!

 

I love the fact that it’s about a boy with three [living] moms, including two women of color, whose closeness, queerness, and strength is celebrated.

I love the fact that Steven’s awesome superpower is basically love and open-minded acceptance, modeled not only by Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, but by his dad. I love the fact that his dad could so easily be a dull schlub, but instead he’s a wonderful, practical, down-to-earth guy who nurtures Steven’s big heart.

I love the fact that his best friend, Connie, is a super-serious, nerdy, analytical girl, respected as a character in her own right, never relegated to the role of love interest or stick-in-the-mud.

It thrills me beyond belief that the two of them fuse into a genderqueer “experience” named Stevonnie whose immediate reaction to creation is not to have some heteronormatively determined panic with sexual subtexts, but to revel in the sheer joy of dancing.

Of all the characters I watch this show for, my favorite is Pearl. As an intellectual who believes in the power of rational thought, she constantly struggles with the supposed purity of knightly virtues and the supposed messiness of emotional attachments. I identify all too much with her tendency to lead from her head [or to at least convince herself that her head is right] rather than to appropriately respect her intuition. I find her equation of devotion and abasement poignant and psychologically profound. I like how, even though she feels worthless, even though she can be rigid and snappy, she’s also capable of great love and tenderness. I think that Steven’s open-minded acceptance benefits all the Crystal Gems, as they all have reasons for hating themselves, and I hope that, in future, his love can help her see that love, equality, and self-respect can coexist.

Steven Universe has so many wonderful aspects that I can scarcely believe that it will continue such a magnificent run. I dread its inevitable devolution into heteronormative crappiness, overrun with male-coded Gems and supposedly romantic plots for Steven and Connie. It’s the only piece of mainstream media that I’ve encountered recently where I feel like myself and my imagination are represented — i.e., it’s a world where queerness is a fact of life, where women are fuckin’ awesome in multifarious ways, where kindness, honesty, emotional expressiveness, and open-mindedness are strengths, and where the white, straight, cis, male, bourgeois narrative is shown for the unimaginative, boring, toxic, dull, and ultimately irrelevant delusion that it is. It’s not perfect, but it’s surprisingly awesome…although I wonder how long it can stay that way.

Cool robots don’t compensate for incoherent misogyny.

Cool robots don’t compensate for incoherent misogyny. published on No Comments on Cool robots don’t compensate for incoherent misogyny.

Tears of Steel, the Blender Foundation’s 2012 crowdfunded movie short done all in Blender, stinks. According to the premise, a dude who “just wants to be awesome in space” [Horrible Line #1] breaks up with a woman because he “won’t admit that he’s freaked out by her robot hand” [Horrible Line #2].

Forty years later, this rejection leads to an infestation of misanthropic killer robots. Humans are trying to brainwash the robots with a re-enactment of a more compassionate departure of Horrible Line #1 from Horrible Line #2.

The only reason I know this is because I read a plot summary online. I sure didn’t get any of that from the flat, atonal acting or the incoherent script. All I got was that women are irrational hysterics who are going to destroy the human race, but somehow an appropriate performance of heteronormativity is going to save it.

If you’re trying to establish a reliable system of parental relations…

If you’re trying to establish a reliable system of parental relations… published on No Comments on If you’re trying to establish a reliable system of parental relations…

…Patriliny is really not the way to go. I mean, seriously. For most of human history, we could not make absolutely certain who the biological father of a particular child was. However, the fact that biological mothers very frequently bear biologically related children made it pretty apparent that a certain mother was the biological parent of a certain child. Yes, I understand that now this connection is complicated by sperm donation, egg donation, surrogate parenting, etc., etc., but, for much of human history, you could pretty much depend on a biological relationship between a kid and the person out of whose body the kid was born.

 

If we used matriliny instead of patriliny, our current standards of reproductive control would make no sense. We wouldn’t necessarily want to police the behavior of childbearing people, girls, and women in general. We’d probably think that their reproductive experiences were open and honest, in comparison to the hidden — and quite possibly sneaky — actions of people with sperm, boys, and men in general. In fact, I can easily envision a deep distrust and disdain for people with sperm, based mostly on the fact that the results of their reproductive experiences are not necessarily obvious. To go even further, I could conjecture that this contempt for people with sperm would probably develop from a time during which the matrilineal people believed that childbearing people just had babies spontaneously and people with sperm didn’t have anything to do with it.

 

That would be a reversal from our current, actual attitudes toward childbearing people and people with sperm, and don’t for a minute think it would be any sort of improvement!

 

 

Having fun with Ayana Doll

Having fun with Ayana Doll published on No Comments on Having fun with Ayana Doll

I discovered a new free standalone Poser figure recently, Ayana Doll, by Glidman. I think she’s very cute, despite her alarmingly bazooka-like default breasts, so I’ve been making some freebie stuff for her.

 

The vast array of breast morphs, tongue morphs, and extremely skimpy outfits provided with Ayana Doll clearly demonstrate that she is intended for stereotypical sexy pinup shit. In response to the presumed innocent and yet flirtatious personality implied by all the pinup accoutrements, I have deliberately made my Ayana Doll stand around coolly, making unimpressed sneers. She looks better that way.

 

Continue reading Having fun with Ayana Doll

Recent projects #4: doctor’s exam room set

Recent projects #4: doctor’s exam room set published on No Comments on Recent projects #4: doctor’s exam room set

Since Chapter 7 [and some of Chapter 8] of Zombieville centers on Isabel’s visit to Doctor Z, I decided a long time ago that I needed to make an exam room set. I started sometime last year with research. I had the opportunity to sit around in an actual exam room for about 45 minutes, waiting for a doctor, so I took the time to observe the layout and contents of the room. I sketched a diagram, which I then transferred into Photoshop. Continue reading Recent projects #4: doctor’s exam room set

Recent projects #3: another LOUD shirt for Isabel

Recent projects #3: another LOUD shirt for Isabel published on No Comments on Recent projects #3: another LOUD shirt for Isabel

I finished my second handmade shirt for Isabel last weekend. It’s still an obvious mess, but, compared to my first finished shirt, it went much easier. Everything went more quickly because I understood how the pieces fit together; therefore the steps of construction flowed logically into one another. I was also more comfortable with hand sewing in general, so I made smaller and more even stitches and fewer mistakes. I guess my skills really were developing during those six months that I was avoiding my sewing kit! Continue reading Recent projects #3: another LOUD shirt for Isabel

Recent projects #2: Thalia’s faceup

Recent projects #2: Thalia’s faceup published on No Comments on Recent projects #2: Thalia’s faceup

I’m working very slowly on Thalia. Very, very, very slowly. I sketched my faceup design on her a while back, and then she sat around like that until maybe two weeks ago, when I finally primed her and laid down the white base for her skullface makeup. This is what she looked like back in the mockup stages.Continue reading Recent projects #2: Thalia’s faceup

Recent projects #1: removing Sylvia’s bad fats

Recent projects #1: removing Sylvia’s bad fats published on No Comments on Recent projects #1: removing Sylvia’s bad fats

I post here much less frequently than I used to, so there are fewer in-progress pictures unless a project has stalled before completion. Such is the case with Sylvia. In my quest to refine the shapes of my various fat dolls, I decided to fix her up and increase her posability. I’m not finished yet, but she’s already improved.

 

Continue reading Recent projects #1: removing Sylvia’s bad fats

Final digital David Bowie

Final digital David Bowie published on No Comments on Final digital David Bowie

Finished up the morph and packaged it today. It’s not a perfect likeness, but it’s eminently recognizable, which is what I was going for. Shown below on Genesis base figure with Basic Male Head at 0.3 and Emaciated [from Genesis Evolution Body Morphs] at 0.5. Texture is Victoria 5 Elite texture Valerie modified by me to look like Ziggy Stardust’s makeup. Hair is from MEC4D’s 80s Gym Suit for G2F with custom texture, tinting, and trans map by me. Shaders on lips and forehead circle are from GeorgeHaze’s Metals. Backdrop by me.

 

Continue reading Final digital David Bowie

Girls just wanna have fun!

Girls just wanna have fun! published on No Comments on Girls just wanna have fun!

In honor of her 45th birthday, a digital vendor, MEC4D, has been releasing limited freebie clothing + hair sets with 1980s style. Here’s Michaela in the latest, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun for Genesis 2 Female.

 

Continue reading Girls just wanna have fun!

Fine! I’ll make my own David Bowie!

Fine! I’ll make my own David Bowie! published on No Comments on Fine! I’ll make my own David Bowie!

There’s no really good David Bowie morph out there for us digital art amateurs. Sure, there’s a free Jareth preset available for Michael 4 using Morphs++, but it kinda looks like Rod Stewart. So I decided to make my own [David Bowie, not Rod Stewart]. I went for a likeness from the Ziggy Stardust era, and, after a few hours with some free, redistributable morphs by Die Trying, as well as strategic use of D-Forms in Daz Studio, I achieved maybe an 80% likeness using the Genesis figure.

 

Continue reading Fine! I’ll make my own David Bowie!

Time for some Jazzercize [TM]!

Time for some Jazzercize [TM]! published on No Comments on Time for some Jazzercize [TM]!

Med4D offered a time-limited freebie, 80s Gym Set for G2F, including the clothing and hair you see below. It’s a beautifully modeled set with lots of material zones, and the hair especially makes me very happy. Jareth too, as you can tell by the renders below.Continue reading Time for some Jazzercize [TM]!

Introducing the Samil Bots!

Introducing the Samil Bots! published on No Comments on Introducing the Samil Bots!

As I have repeatedly stated, I love the work of Renderosity vendor Samildanach, but I have long lamented the unavailability of some of her coolest characters. Much to my joy, though, Renderosity has been bringing back expired products on deep discount, and Samildanach offered a selection of her old stuff for this sale. I picked up the greatly coveted No!, Android Blues 2 Naté, and Rusty Dreams Delicious Delirium. Then all my Samildanach characters got together for my idea of pin-up shots. Who knew they were all such hams?

Continue reading Introducing the Samil Bots!

Recent 1:6 scale body mods: Janet, Pearlene, and Marabou

Recent 1:6 scale body mods: Janet, Pearlene, and Marabou published on No Comments on Recent 1:6 scale body mods: Janet, Pearlene, and Marabou

Instead of doing separate posts on each figure, I’ve collected some recent body mods into a single post. With the articulation mods on Marabou especially, I feel like my skills have reached a new level of sophistication — even though the results don’t look very sophisticated. :p

Janet, one of my favorite LHFers, recently got a body, after sitting around in storage as a head! I seem to have a plethora of AA Hasbro GI Janes, so I popped the helo pilot’s head off and painted her neck with red undertones to match Janet’s head, which is an Integrity Toys Janay head [back from when they had a playline].

Continue reading Recent 1:6 scale body mods: Janet, Pearlene, and Marabou

50 Books of Grey — beating a dead horse to death

50 Books of Grey — beating a dead horse to death published on No Comments on 50 Books of Grey — beating a dead horse to death

Whenever we encounter something particularly repetitive — especially if it’s a book or a movie that slams the same point home ad nauseam — Jill and I call it “beating a dead horse to death.” Yes, I know that phrase is redundant itself, but it also illustrates that the redundancy we’re referring to is not just useless, but exquisitely overdone. If I really want to emphasize the redundancy in something, I’ll go even further and talk about beating a horse to death, resurrecting it as a zombie, then bludgeoning it into inanimacy again.

All of this is to say that E.L. James’ new book, Grey: 50 Shades of Grey as Told by Christian, is caught in some hellish spin cycle of endless zombie horse torture. It’s right up there with Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun — which is Twilight from Edward’s point of view — in terms of gratuitous fatuity. Naturally, I have it on reserve at the library so I’m first in line to read it when it arrives…assuming I can suppress a) my gag reflexes, b) my pain sensors, and c) my compulsion to throw it across the room.

Not angry at, just disappointed in, Erika Johansen’s Invasion of the Tearling

Not angry at, just disappointed in, Erika Johansen’s Invasion of the Tearling published on No Comments on Not angry at, just disappointed in, Erika Johansen’s Invasion of the Tearling

I should start by saying that I liked the first book in Erika Johansen’s fantasy trilogy, The Queen of the Tearling. While set amidst Ye Olde Tirede Fantasie Elements [princess raised in secrecy must ascend to throne and deal with treacherous nobles while fending off an evil, magical queen who threatens to invade], the book distinguished itself by considering how a young noble woman might fare, coming of age in such a setting. Frankly, I’m bored by princes Finding Their Destinies, but I read The Queen of the Tearling with interest, as it lavishes attention on protagonist Kelsea as she both rises to the challenges of her role and chafes at unfamiliar restraints. The story of a young woman with a bad temper and an egalitarian, reactionary perspective coming into her own in a conservative, sexist, hierarchical society fascinates me. Thus I finished book 1 eager to learn how Kelsea’s new magic powers and the impending invasion of her country would affect her character, particularly her impulsiveness and her reformist tendencies.

Continue reading Not angry at, just disappointed in, Erika Johansen’s Invasion of the Tearling

Big Rock Candy Mountain, Hansel and Gretel, and the misery of hunger

Big Rock Candy Mountain, Hansel and Gretel, and the misery of hunger published on No Comments on Big Rock Candy Mountain, Hansel and Gretel, and the misery of hunger

I’m making a digital set with a gingerbread house, chocolate pond, marshmallow cliffs, whipped cream trees — in short, a fanciful landscape formed entirely of sweets. During my work, I have been thinking about other worlds made of food, including Hasbro’s board game Candy Land, the cottage encountered by Hansel and Gretel in the fairy tale, and the edible forest in the song “Big Rock Candy Mountain.”

At least in the examples of Hansel and Gretel and “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” the food landscape represents a sort of macabre “hunger horror.” The theme of food/hunger runs throughout Hansel and Gretel. The children use a trail of bread crumbs to lead them back home, but the crumbs are eaten by the birds, leaving the children lost and starving; they encounter the old woman when they start eating her house made of food; the old woman wants to turn Hansel into food, so she fattens him up in a cage; finally, when the woman prepares to cook Hansel, Gretel shoves her into the oven instead, thus putting the woman on the menu instead of the kid.

You can tell that Hansel and Gretel reflects the kids’ own food insecurity because everything coded as food is…well…insecure. They depend on bread crumbs to save them, but birds take away this food from them. The edible house may satisfy their empty bellies, but chewing on it leads to their imprisonment. The old woman then begins her project of turning Hansel into food, and she can only be defeated by being cooked herself. Food betrays Hansel and Gretel at every turn. It fails at its express purpose — to provide nourishment and continual survival — and instead leads Hansel and Gretel toward greater threat and possible death. The portrayal of food as an actively hostile force is why I call this “hunger horror.”

In contrast, “Big Rock Candy Mountain” seems, at first glance, a much less horrific text, a merry list of the edible features of the aforesaid mountain: “Oh the buzzing of the bees / In the cigarette trees / And the soda water fountain / By the lemonade springs / Where the bluebird sings / In the Big Rock Candy Mountain.” Most people these days know just about that much of the lyrics, leading them to cast it as a nonsense song…which is probably why I grew up listening to this song on a children’s record. [The “cigarette trees” may have been censored, however.] Beyond the chorus, though, the first verse features an itinerant homeless man singing “Of the land of milk and honey / Where a bum can stay / For many a day / And they don’t have any money.” As the rest of the song clarifies, “Big Rock Candy Mountain” is a wish fulfillment song for people who want food and shelter. The horror lies in the blatant, obvious artificiality of the fantasy [everything’s made out of food, i.e., processed], which suggests that the hobo’s dream of having his basic needs met will never come true.

 

Rachel Dolezal’s appropriation of black identity

Rachel Dolezal’s appropriation of black identity published on 1 Comment on Rachel Dolezal’s appropriation of black identity

Rachel Dolezal has made headlines recently for being a racist liar in her makeover of herself from white kid of Christian missionaries to prominent civil rights activist of color. To support her identity as a black woman, she pulled such shit as claiming she lived in a teepee and hunted with bow and arrows in South Africa, identifying a man of color and family friend as her dad, and saying that her adopted brother [person of color] was her son. Her identification of herself as black certainly helped her get the position of president of the Idahoan Human Rights Education Institute and the presidency of Seattle, WA’s NAACP chapter.

Dolezal’s fabrications remind me of white people who pretend to be Indians. Back when yet another author was revealed to have perpetrated [yet another] lie about her nonexistent Native American youth in [yet another] false memoir, David Treuer, an Ojibwe from Leech Lake Reservation, MN, analyzed the phenomenon insightfully.  Noting that popular culture associates Indians with “tragedy,” he writes that “[t]ragedy is a shortcut that sells.” Privileged white people glom onto Indian identity to partake of the sad history of oppression, invasion, and dispossession experienced by so many Native Americans because such stories garner immediate sympathy. [Treuer also cannily observes that the deployment of Indian melodrama distracts from the fake Indians’ thoroughly mediocre writing. HAH!]

Treuer’s comments on the seductive suffering of [fake] members of a racial group seems particularly applicable to Dolezal’s case. Just as white memoirists find the specter of Indian suffering somehow appealing, so Dolezal appears particularly drawn to the concept of woman of color as tragic victim. I say this particularly in light of her claims that she has been the target of anti-black hate crimes. Investigation into these alleged incidents reveals almost all as dubious at best and spurious at worst. Her reiteration of discrimination claims suggests that she feels herself to be victimized. Apparently the “romance” of the suffering of women of color gives her the vehicle she wants to win attention, sympathy, and righteous indignation on her behalf.

Even if Dolezal portrays herself as a victim here, she does not suffer the most grievous repercussions. I return to Treuer’s comments on fake Indians for perspective: “The real victims are Indian citizens and writers. People who have for so long been denied the opportunity to express themselves. … As for Indian citizens, the more than 2 million of us living in the U.S. who are not fakes — our lives [especially if they are happy lives] will go on unseen. This is the greater tragedy. …” Indeed. Dolezal co-opted an experience of race that was not hers, and she made it all about her. So now the public focuses on a white woman and her fake sob story of oppression, while overlooking women of color, whose experiences of racism, activism, frustration, and success are being overshadowed.

Masterful translation of Jonathan Coulton’s “Re: Your Brains”

Masterful translation of Jonathan Coulton’s “Re: Your Brains” published on No Comments on Masterful translation of Jonathan Coulton’s “Re: Your Brains”

Songs, like poetry, don’t always translate well. Stephen Torrence’s translation of Jonathan Coulton’s “Re: Your Brains” into American Sign Language, however, captures the rhythm, tone, and low-key humor perfectly.

Doll artist Mari Shimizu makes fabulous ball-jointed dolls

Doll artist Mari Shimizu makes fabulous ball-jointed dolls published on No Comments on Doll artist Mari Shimizu makes fabulous ball-jointed dolls

Check out Mari Shimizu’s ball-jointed doll masterpieces, including a doll with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil planted in her chest, a doll with a ribcage infested with imp-like nightmares, a doll whose eviscerated torso has become a shrine to angels, conjoined twins with carven frames as of stained glass windows that look into their chests, and more. More on Facebook.

I particularly like the insistence on the core of the doll as another canvas, as well as the way so many of the dolls are spilling their guts and/or housing other dolls within them. The tension between the aesthetized, pacified child figures and the painful violence implicit in their opening charges them, I think, with a dynamism that enhances the sense that they’re alive. As much as I’m not a fan of Christian symbolism, the references to and postures of saints and crucifixion add an interesting dimension, inviting the viewer to frankly consider the grotesqueries, pain, and torture that Christianity has glossed over and miraculized in the formation of its origin story hagiography.

I also just like BJDs with large, round, ball-shaped joints [part of the reason for my continuing interest in DollMore’s Trinity line]. They hearken back to the rounded joints of late 19th-century bebe dolls. To me, they make the dolls seem both more antique and more weighty.

Isabel’s improved poseability and nifty pop-out torso!

Isabel’s improved poseability and nifty pop-out torso! published on No Comments on Isabel’s improved poseability and nifty pop-out torso!

Someone on MWD asked for dressed shots of Isabel posing, so here they are. Standard stuff, really. Insert your own witty captions here because I’m too tired to make them.

Continue reading Isabel’s improved poseability and nifty pop-out torso!

Isabel’s improved body — looks like a BJD, poses like an action figure

Isabel’s improved body — looks like a BJD, poses like an action figure published on No Comments on Isabel’s improved body — looks like a BJD, poses like an action figure

Isabel’s strung resin ball-jointed body, a 5StarDoll “tiny” BJD body with an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head, has the correct chunky shape for her character. However, I value more than just an accurately fat body shape. After years of playing with action figures whose well-engineered articulation allows for fluid posing, I want sophisticated poseability too!

Continue reading Isabel’s improved body — looks like a BJD, poses like an action figure

“9 Fascinating Facts About Transitioning From Male to Female”

“9 Fascinating Facts About Transitioning From Male to Female” published on No Comments on “9 Fascinating Facts About Transitioning From Male to Female”

Great! I’m fascinated already! Tell me more, MSN.

“Bruce Jenner introduced the world to Caitlyn, the Olympian’s female identity, on the new cover of Vanity Fair on Monday…”

If I had one of those buzzers that I could hit whenever someone said something wrong, I’d be leaning on it right here. Let me fix that for you, MSN.

“Caitlyn Jenner, Olympic decathlete, TV star, and person famous for being famous, appeared on the cover on Monday’s Vanity Fair.”

The authors of this article apparently felt so curious about gender transitions that they [pick one]:

a) talked to a variety of trans women who have considered and effected a variety of transitions, including social, occupational, legal, and medical

or b) interviewed a straight, white, rich, cis male plastic surgeon about jaw reduction, tracheal shaves, lip injections, hairline repositioning, and other procedures often known collectively as “facial feminization surgery.”

If you guessed b), you’re right! Yes! No trans persons were consulted in the creation of this article. Despite being nominally about trans people, this article is actually an entirely trans-free zone. This makes it easier, I guess, for clueless cis people to satisfy their prurient curiosity without having to do anything uncomfortable like hearing from trans women themselves.

MSN’s complete inability to talk to some actual people actually involved in actual transitions leads to painfully clueless claims like the following:

“Every transgender person’s journey is different. However, facial feminization surgery is typically one of the first considerations for someone looking to make a change.”

Really? That’s news to me. Because I thought that your average trans person in the U.S., who, according to an overview report by LGBT Movement Advancement Project, overwhelmingly experiences discrimination in public places, employment, housing, and education — and who’s also at disproportionate risk for poverty, homelessness, violence, suicide, and murder — is just trying to, you know, get through the day in one piece. But no — apparently your average U.S. trans person, once she decides to do some physical transitions, is saying to herself, “Okay, I’d better move $50K out of my rainy day fund to pay for a series of delicate and invasive operations from which it will require months of rest and recuperation. Let me check my calendar — okay, I’ve got the next year free — let’s do this!”

Oh FFS, MSN! [And FFS does not = Facial Feminization Surgery. :p ]

 

 

Nelson brothers’ paracosm from 1890s rural New Hampshire

Nelson brothers’ paracosm from 1890s rural New Hampshire published on No Comments on Nelson brothers’ paracosm from 1890s rural New Hampshire

I’m always on the lookout for paracosmic material about others’ imaginary worlds, and I just stumbled across an article on Slate concerning the elaborate world created by Elmer, Arthur, and Walter Nelson, who grew up on a farm in Goshen, New Hampshire. During the 1890s, they created copious amounts of paracosmic material, including newspapers, magazines, maps, illustrations, and [my favorite] seed catalogs. The Amherst College Special Collections has digitized all the related ephemera, which can be seen online.

Actually, though, the best introduction to the Nelson brothers’ world is a Web site, The Worlds and Works of the Nelson Brothers, created in spring, 2014, by a group of Amherst students who studied the works for a course. This site provides context about the family, town, and times, as well as summaries and transcripts of selected ephemera. Fascinating, even though I’m not really interested in all the martial details that constitute much of the paracosm.

Lack of practical digital shoes

Lack of practical digital shoes published on No Comments on Lack of practical digital shoes

Oh for fuck’s sake, people! Just because I have one person who likes to wear exaggeratedly high heels, that doesn’t mean that nearly every single pair should be some sort of skyscraper and/or platform and/or pointy and/or stiletto thingy!

Also, I violently detest open-toe or peep-toe shoes with an unreasoning antipathy. They look silly and unfinished, like the cobbler forgot to add a toe cap. Also I keep worrying that the people who wear them will have no protection when they stub their toes.

Rement Pose Skeleton bike, bike pump, and office furniture!

Rement Pose Skeleton bike, bike pump, and office furniture! published on No Comments on Rement Pose Skeleton bike, bike pump, and office furniture!

I got my latest shipment of Rement Pose Skeleton accessories this afternoon, i.e., those that Isabel uses with her dolls Beth and Death. One set, the bicycle, came with a bike, kickstand, and pump with movable handle. The other set, the office set, came with an wheeled office chair, a laptop with working hinge, a tie [for the skeleton to put around its neck], and a smart phone. Rement’s usual marvelous attention to detail makes these worth the rather high import prices. I just wish the toys were heavier so they wouldn’t fall over so easily. I used pieces from each in the following photostory.

Continue reading Rement Pose Skeleton bike, bike pump, and office furniture!

Rusty kinky dolls

Rusty kinky dolls published on No Comments on Rusty kinky dolls

Back when I was first getting into digital, I really enjoyed the creepy, mannequin-like, and mechanical character textures created by artist Samildanach over on Renderosity. Sadly, most of the characters that captured my imagination have been retired, as they were for 3rd generation Daz figures [V3 and M3], but the link shows that a few of her products remain.

Anyway, all of the above provides backstory for my link to this picture by Odilicious on DeviantArt. The render uses one of Samildanach’s unavailable characters, No, that I am kicking myself for not purchasing back when it was on sale. This particular concept has been bugging me so much that I’m trying to figure out how to recreate it for G2F.

Clearly it’s a set of non-conforming props, most of which can be easily constructed from cylinder, torus, and sphere primitives. The mouthpiece challenges me, though, because it’s obviously shaped, but not conforming. But maybe it should be conforming to fit on a variety of characters. I’m baffled, though, by how to keep that smooth curve on the mesh as it conforms to morphed figures. It would be easier to make it a non-conforming prop based on the default figure, but then it would be of little use to me because none of my characters are default G2F. Pffffft!

Ghostlaw: another name in the spirit of Braintree

Ghostlaw: another name in the spirit of Braintree published on 1 Comment on Ghostlaw: another name in the spirit of Braintree

In the spirit of “How did this name end up looking like a strange combination of two unrelated words?”, I hereby present the surname Ghostlaw. Speaking of spirits, this word recalls the legislation of the dead, but did it originally mean what it looks like it means?

Typing words, place names, and surnames into search engines can often yield fascinating stories and sources for a word’s etymology, as it does for the previously discussed Braintree. Google’s results on Ghostlaw, though, come up pretty barren. Not until page 3 of search results on “surname ghostlaw” did I yield anything helpful.

Back in 2004, Amy Layton posted on the ancestry.com forums, looking for information on the Ghostlaw surname. She stated that she had been unable to trace this branch of her family tree further back than the Ghostlaw generation because she had been told that they had changed their name from something else. What could it be?

While no one directly answered her specific question, respondent Stephanie Beaver posted with information about her grandfather, Charles James Ghostlaw. She noted that both his and his father’s last names were listed as Gosselin on his baptismal certificate. She thus confirmed what I suspected, viz., that Ghostlaw never started off as “ghost + law,” but, rather, some surname that was changed to some vague homophone.

I like to think, in my unusual imagination, that the Ghostlaws and Braintrees are connected. Maybe the disembodied brains, fruiting from the braintrees, imagine counterfactual legal doctrine known as ghostlaws?

 

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