Month: April 2009

Gloves: Bane of my Existence

/ Alex Whitehall / 1 Comment

-Sigh-

I’ve made several pairs of gloves, and yet I still make stupid mistakes. I have the benefit of stretchy material this time, so of course I put the stretch the wrong direction. -headdesk- ETA: The next one I made then was too big because I over compensated. I now have 3 almost finished gloves that don’t quite work how I want them to. Least I’m learning.

I took a half day today, because it was lovely out, I hadn’t slept well the past few days (damn heat) and I’d been wanting to for a while. Slept. Went riding. Crafting. Good times all around.

Still can’t believe I didn’t realize I put the stretch the wrong direction until I went to put my hand in the finished product. I should be able to mod. it and make it useable. Not that gloves are the hardest thing to make. But these have half fingers, so it’s slightly more annoying.

To not make this a total waste: People who like learning new things and hearing other’s ideas should go here. People who like the weather should go here. You can check out my arty side here. And if you’re bored and like puzzles, check out this.

And finally:

Update – Nearly May

/ Alex Whitehall / 5 Comments

I’ve been extremely productive and motivated recently, which has been wonderful. Here’s the update.

* Reading has increased. I finished The Education of Little Tree and have started Scratch Beginnings. Also, I’m reading Air Gear, the manga, and I read the third volume of Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo, finally.

* My Death Note notebook arrived (with surprise necklace and helicopter), and it was Light’s notebook and prefabbed names were in it. It was also smaller than I expected (5.74 x 8 inches–ish). I suppose that’s to size. Kinda disappointed with it, but thankfully didn’t pay much for it. I’m now on the lookout for alternatives to make Jealous’. ETA: Found and purchased. Should arrive this week.

* Besides wig making, Near is done (err, and dice gluing, but that’s aimed to be finished this weekend). (Plus if I make the mask. Damn, I keep forgetting I’m adding things :))

* Out shopping for dress shirts, I picked up Serenity and Mirror, Mirror (the first is a movie, the second a book). Both cheaply. Plus two boxes of Gertrude Hawk chocolates. Which probably wasn’t wise, but I’m hoping freezing them will help.

* On the note of candy: I was asked how I eat poorly, and yes, it’s mostly from snacking. I seem to lose self control around things like chocolate. Or food. Thankfully I also enjoy running. I’m working on regaining my ability to resist.

* This morning I had a riding clinic (which continues tomorrow night) and it went well, although I didn’t get as much feedback as other riders. I assume this is because I was doing better than them. My pony rocks. I came home and went running, a habit I hope I continue, because running after riding isn’t that bad, especially if it’s only a mile.

-My next two weekends are rather busy, or involve being places with slow internets. updates dependent upon my level of caring-

Sidenote: sending off two copies of my “book” to two friends for editing/reviewing/criticism. Very nervous.

Doublesidenote: Need to get back on the reviewing bandwagon for a certain someone. Sorry about that.

In amends of fatitude

/ Alex Whitehall / 5 Comments

This post is in reply to the outcry I heard from my comment (two entries ago) about me being a fatass.

I understand I am not actually a fatass. Sometimes I just feel like a fatass because of circumstances. I’ve been eating rather terribly lately and it’s done nothing to console me. Also, I think the workout DVDs I’ve been doing have been building more leg mass than I’d like.

In order to cut down on my leg strengthening skills, I’m changing my routine. First, I plan on making my own workout, based on that which I’ve learned from the DVDs. Second, I plan on incorporating alot more cardio into my routine, which is easier with nice weather, because running is excellent cardio. In fact, today after getting back from the barn I went running.

So the plan is to run on nice days and do my routine on rainy days (like tomorrow promises to be). I’m going to try cutting back on the gorging, but we know how that goes.

So just to quiet any worries people had: I am not anorexic and think I’m fat and OMG I need to get thin. I merely realize I’m not in peak physical condition, and I’d really like to be.

(On a side note, for Soba: It probably doesn’t help that I’m cosplaying two really young boys this year. But I’m coming to terms with that. Sorta :))

Of Dice and Men

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

If anyone were to ask me (and they won’t, but if they did) what I spent my Saturday night doing, I can honestly say “I was gluing dice together.”

Let’s start…well not from the beginning, but at least the start of today. Riding (of course), then a horse clinic (no surprise there). Then home, showered, fed. Out shopping (here’s where it gets interesting) for cosplay stuff. I was successful, and that success enticed me to get working on one of my cosplays’ props…a dice city. It’s something I’m enjoying (which should probably terrify you a bit), and I may add onto it after Otakon. But we’ll see.

Otherwise, I think I’ve purchased most of the items I need for my characters, missing only a shirt, things I need to order online, and some metal bits. But I’m feeling the mood a bit more (this Friday helped alot. It just felt…more right?)

Side note: Having gone to bed around 1 AM and woken up at 6:45 and been up and busy all day, I can feel myself crashing. Hopefully I can hold out until 10 and I will sleep well tonight (although most likely wake up stiffer than a log).

Planning to be Brief

/ Alex Whitehall / 2 Comments

Hopefully a brief update…

…my left eye is once again puffy from some irritant. It only hurts a little, the most annoying thing is wearing my glasses (which need updated and uncrookedized).

…my 4-H responsibilities have become more than I was expecting, but still, I suppose, nothing I can’t handle.

…I skipped Group last night to edit, and I’m over halfway done.

…I realized I am, in fact, a fatass and need to really focus my eating habits.

…DL’d WavePad (a sound editor) for, you know, stuff.

…it’s finally sunny again! The weekend is supposed to be beautiful (at least saturday) and hopefully not too muddy by then.

…my company decided to close between Christmas and New Years; this means I’ll either take PTO days or NPTO days. This is both awesome (because I get a winter break!) and sucks (because I either don’t get paid or waste my pto days). I’d rather have a week off in May, but I understand the financial reasons for doing it.

…because of stress and anxiety, I’ve been eating poorly and more than I should. It’s also made me extremely restless (although on this end, at least I’m being kept busy at work).

…finally: Brother o’ mine, if we want to get together in May, we should schedule a day, because I’m sure both our calendars are filling fast.

That’s a Valid Point.

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

For those of you who follow Neil Gaiman’s blog, I’m sure you’ve read about Amazon’s Fail. I first heard about it this morning from one of my web comic authors, here. I’m hoping this was just one giant “WHOOPS” that will be remedied. I haven’t read everything there is on the topic, but it’s kinda really aggravating. But most things are in this world. Part of me concedes that they are a business and they can do whatever they want (within limits). Part of me thinks that if they are/were to follow through with this, that they’d realize it’s not a good idea. Here’s hoping.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend, although I got no extra vacation out of it. Just candy. So my exercising is offset by candy eating. Hopefully balancing it out. I’ve been pretty good about exercising on days that I’m not at the barn (or Fridays when I’m with my friends) and walking anytime it’s not raining or too cold. But of course work is causing more stress so I stress eat. I may do some meditations before bed to chillax–or something like that.

My writing has shifted focus again, this time in the form of a girl named Justine. I’m not sure where she’s taking me, but I’m just going along for the ride at this point.

Tonight I edited about 10 pages worth of story, which felt good. I’ve also begun a list of things I seemed to have forgotten, so I’ll have a chance to add more length to the story–which is hopefully a good thing. My goal is to be done editing by the end of the month. I want my first two test subjects to get it as soon as possible. Go team!

Still undecided on the cable decision. Part of me thinks that it’s a really good idea, and the other half thinks it’s not really worth what I’ll save. I suppose I don’t really have to rush to make a choice.

Trapped Between Busy and Exhausted

/ Alex Whitehall / 7 Comments

Holy Miracle Worker Batman, I’ve been busy this week, and it’s only Wednesday. And the rest of the week doesn’t slow up any. Whoooosh.

Monday I got my car back from the shop, did some writing, some editing and wrapped up some loose ends that needed wrapped. Not too busy-rushed feeling, but it’s amazing how time consuming things are.

Tuesday, yesterday, was a barn day and I got back and baked some oatmeal pumpkin bars. I’ve begun eating poorly again and I’m hoping to jump kick myself in the head. The bars are pretty healthy, so I’m hoping that helps.

Today I have Group and a small slot of time beforehand which I’m still figuring out what I’ll do with it. Exercising is a must! But otherwise, torn.

Tomorrow I have barn and then a meeting, which is at 7 and will probably take way too long.

Friday is friends. Saturday is riding and then groceries (unless I get REAL motivated and do that tonight) and whatever else I can fit into that time. Sunday is Easter.

I should be clear from posting for a while, unless anything interesting comes up.

Side note: Movies have soundtracks, and it’s obviously not plausible to have a soundtrack to a book (unless it’s a book on tape), but have you ever created a playlist for one of your characters?

The Wind of Winds

/ Alex Whitehall / 1 Comment

Sweet Saturday, thy name is pleasure.

Okay, I may be over dramatizing a bit! But weekends are wonderful. This morning I went to the barn and rode, which was windy but fun, since my horse is only slightly lame and hopefully will heal without any care, just time off. Then home for shower and food and off to the store to buy dice (a lot of dice. 260. don’t ask.) and cards (because I’d like to start playing Contract Rummy and Hand&Foot again. so I needed decks of cards). Also, while I was out I found this:

Which is odd, I’ll give you that. They are candy snakes. Lollipops from what I gathered. My one friend loves snakes, so…I had to. 😀

I also picked up the game Apples to Apples, which was mucho fun when I played it at group and I’ll be bringing it to my brother’s birthday party. Plus the game that we played a year ago where we all insulted said brother having birthday. I wonder which one he’ll want to play….

I actually have the next step of one of my stories sort of worked out in my head, which makes me feel better. I also have a vague plan of doing a serial story like writers used to do in newspapers. Part of me wants to do it just to do it, part of me sees it as a challenge, part of me thinks it would get some sh*t done.

In totally unrelated, not getting sh*t done news, I read two “comics” which I wanted to share, although most my people know about them. One is XKCD, an example of this is:
They are uber geek.

The other is A Softer World, which is like this:

They are kinda indie.

Both make me feel smart. Both make me feel stupid. And I enjoy both experiences!

A side note (also, congrats if you made it down this far), I’m considering not getting cable TV anymore. I don’t watch loads of TV, and it would be best not to have that temptation anyways, right? Plus I’d save $20 a month, which isn’t really a lot (which is why I question dropping TV). Err, I’m still debating this one, but I guess input would be appreciated.

On Rain and It’s Ickiness

/ Alex Whitehall / 3 Comments

It can stop all this raining any time now.

I know it’s April, and I know the old children’s rhyme, but it’s really cramping my go-outside-and-ride ability. Not only is riding outside in the rain normally a no-no (due to destruction of leather), but it makes the ground shit to ride on. But I suppose it needs to get it out of it’s system. Maybe I’m just grumpy because I think it’s making my horse lame.

BTW, for those of you who didn’t know about it, Google Reader is amazing. It lets you watch everything that gets updated on a regular or semi-regular basis, like blogs, comics, and anything with an RSS feed. It has cut down on my morning clicks by a large amount, I assure you.

I moved to the second level of the 30-day Shred. 20 minutes of planks, is really what it amounts to. Frogger Planks, Jumping Jack Planks, Side-to-Side Planks. However, since I’d like to beef up my upper body, this will have positive results. Assuming I don’t die.

I’ve been feeling especially unfocused and restless lately. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing how unfocused and restless I am. I swear I’m not that way all the time. There’s just so many interesting things in the world. And while that means I get easily distracted/provoked, it also means when I do things, I wonder how it will compare to all the other wonders. I know I shouldn’t, it should be about me, making me happy, doing what’s best–or at least my best. But still frustrating.

The buckets are still raining down, but it should be nice for my brother’s birthday. Warm and sunny if the forecast says. But all this rain means riding tomorrow will be limited or nonexistent. But no chicken counting. I’ve continued ready Education of Little Tree because I was looking at another book and realized that I should finish at least one of the three I’m currently reading first. My next book? I’m not sure–I was looking at taking The Name of the Wind out of the library, but I also have some options of books I recently purchased. I guess we’ll have to see.

This is not a Trick

/ Alex Whitehall / 2 Comments

I’m very happy for Wednesday this week.

Not only was my weekend full of people and doings, but then Monday I was home long enough to cook dinner, but then didn’t return until nearly 11, last night was better, I got home by 7:30 and then cooked something up for a lil party we’re having at work.

The reason for the party? To celebrate my one coworker not getting Mono and having to take off all that time. It’s also April 1st, so it seemed like a good day to do it. The party is limited to the four of us in editorial, but we’ll have yums and drinks and such. Good times all around. I think it’s nice just to break the monotony.

My writing has been unfocused lately and rather bland feeling. I’d rather not talk about it.

Today I don’t have anything outside of my home planned and I’m looking forward to cleaning, exercising and doing some much-needed editing. Yay for Wednesdays!