Tag Archives: Hobbies

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

A belated Happy New Year to all! 2018 has brought changes in several areas.

I discussed kindred (vampire) biology with my bestie and science editor, Mad Doktor Matt, and realized I need to make the following changes:

  • The faction of kindred my characters deal with has a worldwide system of government, but is just one example of kindred culture and government. As kindred spread across the earth along with humans, they would have developed different cultures and governments.
  • I got a bit too enthusiastic about borrowing from camels’ water and heat management techniques. It didn’t occur to me, for example, that 30 gal of water weighs 250 lbs! So being able to drink 30 gal in 10 min would be impossible for a human-sized being. I’ll also have to lower the hydration requirements.
  • We came up with a 12 hour time limit between blood feedings in a late night brainstorming session, imagining a dramatic death scene. On further examination, if kindred evolved in parallel with humans from shortly after the evolution of humans, this wouldn’t work. In order to get enough blood to sustain themselves and avoid detection, kindred would have to be able to travel between settlements. Since they primarily require white blood cells, I’ll change the time limit to 13-20 days + a week. So I’ll also have to recalculate their carrying capacity accordingly.
  • Matt mentioned the feeding allergy part sounded like a game mechanic. It makes more sense to have the sensitization occur over a series of feedings. So one way to tell there’s a vampire around is if a lot of people start getting anaphylaxis.
  • We discussed what happens if a kindred turns into a flock of bats or mist and some of the bats get killed or someone sucks up the mist with a towel. We decided that the kindred would transform back, but be more emaciated, having lost an equivalent amount of mass. For example, a kindred turns into a flock of 10 bats and an enemy kills 1. When the kindred changes back they will have lost 10% of their mass.

I’m glad we had the discussion. These all serve as great examples of how every writer has blind spots.

As I mentioned previously, I’m having another release surgery. All burn survivors need such surgeries periodically as the scar does not grow with the rest of the body. Burn scars actually contract over time. I’ll be getting a combination of z-plastys and laser treatment tomorrow. Right now I’m bummed I’ll have to stop work on my cross stitch project so I don’t leak all over it, but it helps to have gone through all this before. Here’s a shot of my work in progress:

I’m a little over halfway across the top. I still haven’t filled in the background on the chart’s second page because the post office lost my floss. Hopefully they’ll find it!

I plan to use some of my downtime to fulfill a childhood dream and learn Русская (Russian)! I think I was attracted to the Cyrillic alphabet. I’ve also always loved Russian fairytales. I’ve always wanted to learn all the languages in the world! It amuses me that once I learn Russian and Italian, I’ll know all the axis languages. (Totally unplanned!)

While I’m healing, I wish all of you tranquility and joy in abundance.

Joy wreath from Christmas to Color by Mary Tanana, colored by yours truly.

Bday 💖, Walkin’ in the Rain, and Musings on Needlework and Writing

Today’s post is a bit of a mixed bag. 🙂

🎁First, a very happy birthday to my bestie and science editor, Mad Doktor Matt! Many happy returns! 🎂 Matt has helped me brainstorm the biology of my supernatural beings over many lengthy conversations. He helps me stay true to the science and decide when to depart from (known) reality. He’s also a fantastic first reader and support! Much love to you, my friend!

Today I took a walk in the rain. In yesterday’s Japanese post I mentioned my pain doc gave me some good advice. As it gets darker, I start getting the urge to hibernate. He said I could combat my sleepiness with daily walks. The mornings are best because there’s more light.

I like to hunt Pokémon as I walk. I had a lucky day, snapping up a Bellsprout and a Mareep. I stopped at a nearby church to take over the gym and I noticed how beautiful this flower looked in the rain.

The glam-shot quality comes from the sandwich bag I used to keep the rain off my iPhone. Anyone know what kind of flower this is?

I also wanted to share that I’ve started my next cross stitch project. This one will be a wedding gift for my friend and Matt’s sister, Julie. Julie is a phlebotomist and has given me lots of details about blood and how the collection system works. These are vital details for any vampire-centric novel, in my opinion.

I’m keeping the painting I’m stitching a surprise. I can tell you that it’s a max color chart by Heaven and Earth Designs, which means it contains over 200 colors!

I’m trying the Floss-A-Way organization system this time and I really like it. The system consists of rings like those in a binder and small ziplock bags with a hole in one corner. I cut up the list of symbols and DMC floss numbers. Then I taped one on each bag. This makes it really easy to flip through and find the color I’m looking for. I can also keep lengths of thread neatly tucked away with their skeins. Really helpful for such a large project!

This is my first time stitching on 25-count linen (which means there are 25 stitches per inch). So tiny! Most of the design will be very colorful, but the corner I’m starting with is dark. There are four colors of thread in this picture. Can you find them all?

Challenging, right? As I was stitching today I thought how much it’s like writing a novel. Small, consistent additions add up over time and what starts out amorphous and murky turns into a beautiful whole.

Wizard Cross Stitch Finished!

Abracadabra! I started this Dimensions cross stitch kit about seven years ago. It spent most of that time languishing in my closet until this summer. Once I finally started working on it in earnest, it went super fast. I think it took about five months to complete.

I love the dimension and texture the designer created by using halfstitch, couching, and blending colors. Every so often I’d fill in a couple of stitches and be amazed at how they made all the difference. This is a great example of how skillfully manipulated details in the right places make a project shine.

Looking at the chart, I was worried about how, um, phallic one of the candles looked. I was relieved when I actually stitched that section that it didn’t resemble a penis after all! It’s amazing how much color can change our perception.

I did make a few subtle changes. In some areas I miscounted, but I was able to fudge it so it looked great and I didn’t have to take out and redo a whole bunch. The wizard’s glasses were supposed to have a chain hanging down, but I think they’re cuter without. I also added gold to some of the dragon’s outlining to add a little more magic. Goes to show that even a minutely outlined project improves with a little creativity. This also reflects my “pantser”/“Make it Work” work style. 🙂

I’m really proud of myself for finishing! I also learned a new skill completing this project: couching! Despite the fiddly gold threads, I think I did a good job.

Behold!

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The End’s in Sight!

I couldn’t stop stitching today since I was so close to the end. And now I’m on to the backstitching and couching! Woohoo!

I plan to catch up on studying Japanese and the social side of social media this weekend. 🙂

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The State of the Cross Stitch 8.30.2017

I’m very pleased to be back to cross-stitching. For those who don’t know, I was unable to stitch for many years due to my burns (I’m a burn survivor) and CRPS/RSD. I have a hard time just sitting and not doing something with my hands (probably due to inculcation of too intense a work ethic) and it’s lovely to be able to listen to books and news or debates on YouTube and do something meditative, productive, creative, and beautiful at the same time. I’m currently working on a Dimensions® Gold Collection™ cross stitch kit by Myles Pinkney called “Scarlet Wizard”. As of tonight, here’s my current progress. I love how the back looks like an impressionist painting of the front!

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