Wooten Standard Desk

I almost forgot to mention the beautifully restored Wooten Standard Desk at the Morris-Butler house...it held all these little drawers and cubbies for sorting things.  It was a thing of beauty.

GenCon 45

We just got back from GenCon 45 in Indianapolis.  There were a lot of ups and downs but in general I had a really great time.

Wednesday night when everyone arrives, the usual gang meets up at Buca di Beppo.  It is a family style Italian restaurant.  It is loud and crazy and at the same time has this strange way of making everyone family.  It is a little intense for me, but this year I got to enjoy its jois de vivre as well.  It is a nice way to start the week.

It being GenCon there was of course a lot of games.  I played a couple of games of Brass and Steel and decided to pick up some of their materials.  I am debating whether or not I am up for running my own LARP using one of their quick starts.  I also played a couple of LARPs that involved some wacky hijinks.  They were both playtests so there were some details to iron out, but I had a good time.

This year I decided to do some costuming.  I made a steampunk-esque costume for Friday (skirt and apron with an exterior corset-the first one that I made was too large so I steampunked it).  Saturday I wore my Victorian polonaise.  I have been working on this for about a year and made all the foundation garments and exterior garments myself.  One of the LARPs for Saturday was set in the Morris-Butler house which is a restored Victorian home.  The LARP itself was supposed to be Edwardian themed but all the participants had a variety of costumes from Victorian to 1920s.  This was one of the best LARP experiences I have had.  Aside from the unbelievable setting, it felt like all of the players were committed to creating an atmosphere.  I have had some of the best in-game conversations in my brief game experience.

The house was unbelievable.  I want to go back and take a regular tour so  that I can learn more about it.  The restoration group did such an amazing job creating an atmosphere of "home".  The details were incredible and included a pair of handmade knit socks and some tatting in process on one chair.  The remade kitchen was just magic.  I loved every moment.


There were some incredible costumes this year.  I have noticed that there are some interesting levels of costume at GenCon.  For some people it is a chance to wear all the wacky things they don't get to wear in everyday life.  Then there are the pre-made costumes that no one ever seems comfortable in, but they offer a good start.  Then there are the costumes that are made like clothes.  In the end, I think the best clothes are the ones that the wearer owns the look.  Some costumes wear the person.  Some costumes are worn.  One of the Darth Vader's was so well-played that people cleared a path for them. 

GenCon provides a good opportunity for geeks to be awesome.  It is fun to be apart of that.

Thank you...

Earlier this summer, someone sent me an anonymous book...I finally had the chance to read it.  I enjoyed it.  Thank you for the interesting read and for thinking of me.

A bit of noir

This was for my detective fiction class this semester. We were supposed to write in the voice of Raymond Chandler:

"The chimes rang in the chipper sing-song of a battered old parakeet, and the heavy oak door creaked as it admitted the occupants with a blast of October rain. The smell of damp earth mixed with the heady aroma of strong coffee, and the chill made me wrap my fingers around my mug tighter. The couple clung to each other and laughed at the grand adventure of their own love story. I hunkered back into my seat. Not my client then. The room was busy for the middle of the afternoon; I wondered what it was about Wednesdays that attracted rain and misfortune. The chimes struck again but stopped abruptly like everything else in the room. A tall drink of a woman walked into the coffee shop desperate and fierce and bracing herself for trouble as she casually withdrew a gun from her handbag. It was a good thing I was thirsty."

A beautiful suit...

I love this suit. I love it because it is so classically beautifully simple. It is a suit for a woman and not just a woman pretending to dress like a man (which is how most women's suits are tailored). It is understated. The woman who wore this, wore it at that crucial interview, the first big presentation she had to give, her husband's inauguration (it was the 60s lets be realistic), or may be even someone's funeral. It has spent most of its life carefully protected in the closet so that it could be brought out precisely when its own particular magic was needed. It never detracted from the fearsome power of the woman that wore it. Its elegance is easily underestimated so that the real woman who wore it could shine through. It is just as relevant 50 years later as it was in the 60s. It is a solemn statement but such a powerful one. I want to pretend that the woman who wore this dress passed it on to her granddaughter to wear to her first interview and maybe even her own inauguration. This is why I love beautiful clothes - because the truly well-designed pieces will live lives of their own and allow the wearer find the truth of their own story.

Guilty Pleasures...

I have a bit of confession to make. I am sort of obsessed with cosmetics. I love looking at beauty magazines, trolling the makeup aisle at stores, watching makeup how to videos, and I desperately adore Sephora. I am sort of rubbish at applying it so I think I purchase more then I actually consume, but it remains a guilty pleasure.

I did have some thoughts on some popular products that I have tried and my experiences with them. Now, please remember these are my experiences (for better or worse) and your mileage may vary. Also, I know rubbish all about what I am doing. I thought though that might be why it is helpful information

MAKE UP FOR EVER 5 Camouflage Cream Palette - No. 1
I have generally very very fair skin and a lot of problem areas including somewhat impressive dark under-eye circles. In fact even though purple eyeshadow is highly recommended for my hazel eyes, I never where it for fear of looking like I lost a fist fight. I heard good things about this palette and decided to give it a try. The nice thing about this palette is that it gives you a green and a peachy tone for hiding redness and some common skin coloration issues. There is a also a variety of shades of concealer which can be blended for a multitude of skin types and skin problems. The problem is that these are very thick creams. And, you really need to let them warm up to cover well. I found that they drag across my skin a bit. They are good concealers, but if you have problems with blending (like I do) this may not be the best choice.

Revlon Color Stay Foundation – This was recommended for its coverage which is okay but it feels sticky/tacky on the skin and I thought that it smelled like paint. It definitely felt like makeup which rather than making me feel beautiful made me feel more aware of my imperfections. I am really not a fan of this product. I tried giving it a second chance but I just do not like the way it wears.

Revlon Photo Ready Compact – I actually really love the coverage of this cream to powder foundation. It really softens and smooths out skin’s imperfections. I find it a bit messy and I am often heavy handed with makeup so I have to be super careful when applying this. However, I have to say this is probably the best coverage foundation that I have found.

Mary Kay Eye Make-Up Remover – Probably the best eye make-up remover on the market hands down. Or at least I should say that for $15 this is the best product I have found and is good enough that I don’t feel the need to try more expensive versions out there. It is admittedly more expensive then the box store brands out there. However, it does an incredible job of removing your eye makeup and leaves your skin feeling soft and nourished afterwards. Worth every penny.

Tarte Smooth Operator – This tinted moisturizer is a recent find for me. I have really oily skin but it is also incredibly sensitive and so the products that deal with oil are too harsh for my face and the products that are for sensitive skin just get absorbed by the oil. This moisturizer seems to get along with my skin and it has pretty good coverage. It is not as good as the Photo Ready but it is a little more forgiving to apply for my non-skilled-ness and I can apply it with my fingers which gives me more control.

Eye Primers – I have tried Urban Decay’s Primer Portion and while I love the packaging I just don’t think that it delivers. Everyone speaks very highly of it and I realize that it is a generally well regarded product. I just don’t think it does its job as well as e.l.f.’s Eye Concealer. Granted I have thin and highly veined skin over my eyes so I like that e.l.f.’s Eye Concelear provides me some coverage, but I also think it does a better job of priming the lids for my shadows than Urban Decay. I haven’t had a chance yet to try e.l.f.’s eye primer product but I would like to after my positive experience with their concealer.

Girl Meets Pearl – I really want to like this product. It smells of raspberry’s, it provides a soft pinky glow to the skin, it is generally lovely. I just can’t figure out a way to work it into my beauty routine and have it do what my face needs. I keep playing with it though. It is one of the prettiest and subtlest illuminizing products that I have found which I also like.

L’Oreal HiP Eyeliner – I picked up a metallic silver in this pencil liner, and it is really creamy and really pigmented. It went on very smooth, and I am really interested to try some of their other HiP liners.

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Concealer – I love this stuff. Really great coverage. It blends into the skin. It seems almost fool proof. Love love love…which means they are probably discontinuing it.

Mascara - I have a mascara curse. I have long dark eyelashes which I would love to highlight with mascara. However, I always get dark fallout under my eyes which extenuates the circles and tiredness around my eyes. I have tried waterproof and smudge proof and smudgy waterproof of every brand I can afford and I have little to no success. Mary Kay had one years ago that was great and while their Ultimate is close I still get the fall out. I am crushed.

Thoughts on mysteries

I just started my detective fiction course for school and I thought that his assignment might help better expound upon some of the things I have been trying to convey through this blog for some time.

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There is something comforting about a murder mystery or at least certain murder mysteries for me. I am speaking particularly of the ones where one finds oneself in a small hamlet, with an over large cemetery. These are the ones where every time you meet a new character they are either a victim or a murderer. Stir in a lead character with some pluck and let the mayhem ensue. It is a little certainty in an uncertain world for me as a reader. I particularly like mysteries where the lead sleuth is an amateur. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be Jessica Fletcher when I grew up, and I am still drawn to that kind of mystery novel protagonist.

I didn’t cut my teeth on Sherlock Holmes like most people do. I always thought there was something pretentious about Sherlock Holmes that made me less interested in reading those stories. It wasn’t until the recent BBC production of Sherlock Holmes that I saw a version of him that I was drawn to, and having heard the portrayal is generally accurate to the novels, I have been excited to read the books. Doyle has been in my reading queue for a bit, so the fact that I get to read them for this class is an added bonus.

Anyway, my first real eye-opening introduction to mysteries came when I was about 10 with “Angie’s First Case” by Donald Sobol (of Encyclopedia Brown fame). It was the first chapter book I had really been engaged in, and the first time I was so enthralled by a book that I curled up and read it cover to cover on a Saturday afternoon. I loved the experience so much I have been afraid to re-read it for fear that it would no longer be what I imagined it to be. For this reason, I have lost most of the story line and couldn’t offer much comment.

My favorite mystery/thriller novel though is probably “Cranes of Ibycus” by Mary Craig. This was a book my mom picked up at a library book sale when I was a teenager which I promptly borrowed. It was so much more then I expected to be, and the story was so driving that I couldn’t put it down. A couple of years ago, my mom gave me the book when I asked if I could borrow it again. As much as I was afraid of the disappointed nostalgia, I fell in love with it all over again. I tend to prefer the type of mystery where an amateur gets caught up in a complex problem (murder or otherwise) they can’t solve, and the story becomes a journey through all of the clues and processes that lead them to a resolution. Many times, and “Cranes of Ibycus” is not an exception, the character grows through this experience and there is nothing more important to me in a story of any genre of fiction then character development.

This book is not a murder mystery per se and it certainly isn’t detective fiction. But it is does feel so thrilling while one is reading it. The characters are ones that you can care about which is actually a fairly important factor in a novel for me because it means that you start to care about the same things they do and one can get caught up in those near-death or near-awesome experiences. It is an out-dated and out-of-print book but one of the most enjoyable reads I have ever had.

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Actually writing this I found that there is another out-of-print book by Mary Craig and I purchased it on Amazon. I may have to wait until June to read it but I wanted to find some of that same reading experience again.