astillar

( cut for family crap )
I spent 36 hours in the Valley and that was more than enough. I’m not going back for Christmas. I like to enjoy my holidays.

The trailer is finally online! I saw it when I went to go see "Where the Wild Things Are." The opening scene makes me laugh. I'll go see the movie just for that.

( cut because I'm long-winded )

Yup, good times, good times.

Just a quick post to touch base with my adoring fans. Got back from Renn Faire today, back to Dallas as well. Despite the weather, it was a fun weekend. I was so glad to have hung out with everyone who came.
Tomorrow I'll deliver pics and report, promise.

On a lark, I started looking up people on Facebook that I went to high school with. Wow, what a trip. It was so crazy/awesome/cool/weird to realize that yeah, they're still alive and well and so different from how I remember them. Most people look heavier than they were in high school, of course. But a lot of them have kids, and the girls have different last names, and people are scattered all over the country now. It's . . . I don't know how to put. It's pretty cool. I'm half-tempted to start friending them like crazy, but wouldn't that be kinda awkward to just do that out of the blue? Hmm. Anyways, that was fun, and kinda . . . heartwarming to see everybody's out there, living their lives. That's cool.

Tomorrow I'll be heading back up to Dallas and not a moment too soon. I've been working in San Antonio all week just to keep busy. Driving 500 miles a day to and within SA is not how I want to earn my daily bread; it's just too stressful doing all that driving in a city you're unfamiliar with. So yes, I'm looking forward to going back to Dallas. (Yeah, I never thought I'd say that too.)
In other news, it's time for me to start looking for a new place to live. Lease will be up at the end of the year so I need to get it sorted out promptly. I gotta say though, I'm starting to get tired of the annual apartment hop. 5 times in 5 years? Each time I move I usually do get a slightly better place, but I always feel cramped and that I can't really do what I want with the place, since it's not mine. Considering I'd have to own a piece of property to have cartu blanche with it, I'll settle for more floor space instead. (I really just want somewhere to work on hard cosplay without worrying about ruining my living space.) I started searching online this morning for lofts and mini-warehouses, y'know, properties that would have tons of footage and hopefully cost a little less since they're not super nice apartments. But all the lofts turn out to be in hoity-toity downtown and warehouses aren't available for residential leases. I also checked out garage-apartments. Although those usually come with tiny apartments, a garage would make for a great workshop. But those properties are pretty sad/small/old. Next up are the duplexes. I'm not too keen on being cheek-to-cheek with my neighbor, but duplexes seem to have the balance of price and footage that I'm looking for. But at the risk of sounding racist, those properties seem to be mostly in the black or hispanic neigborhoods. I lived there the first year I was here, by accident. Don't wanna do that again.
Ugh, this is so frustrating/depressing.

Camping at TRF was a blast, definitely more fun than your average con.
( camp report )

Pics and vids.

Lesson 1: Breaking 3 needles in 3 minutes means you're doing something wrong. STOP!
Lesson 1a: Breaking needles CAN launch at your face, so it's okay to flinch.
Lesson 2: A seam ripper works better than an X-acto knife. Make the investment already.
Lesson 3: Leather looks so much better (authentic) than vinyl. But it's expensive! OMG!
Lesson 4: Cats and costumes do not mix.

On the upside, my costume is actually pretty close to done. I might actually finish it with time to spare. I know, I'm surprised (and a little scared) too! I still don't know what to do about the hat, but I'm hoping last-minute panic will be a good inspiration. I made my first of many "mods" to Iron Horse tonight; just added a magnetic strip to catch pins that I pull. The next thing I want to do is install some ultra-bright LEDs under the arm. That one measly bulb ain't cutting it.
Tomorrow I'll be getting some camping odds and ends, finishing my costume, and packing up my truck. I'm so excited!

First off, more rain has once again shut down work for us. We worked for TWO WHOLE DAYS this week. Pfft. (I need hours!)
That aside, I don't mind having the weekend off. That means more time to work on costume! I think I'll stay here in Dallas over the weekend; I'm just getting tired of constantly driving back and forth and packing and unpacking all the danged time. In costume-y news, I finished the mantle yesterday (in one evening, no less!). I've got an assload of leather left over so I'll have to find ways to incorporate it into my costume. I'm gonna be wearing so much leather, it's gonna be awesome. Today I think I'll go grab some material for my tabard. I'm gonna try and make that garment "dickie-style" because there's already more than enough layers in this outfit. I'm afraid I'm gonna overheat. One part of the costume that's got me stumped is headgear. Yeah, my ranger costume is heavily based off the Lord of the Rings costumes, in which no one wears hats because they all have glorious locks of hair. But I live in Texas and I want something to keep the sun out of my eyes. So it's either sunglasses or a hat. Which one's gonna look better in a Renn Faire costume? Hmm, I wonder. Duh. I'm just having trouble imagining what kind of hat would work with a ranger costume. I'm NOT making one of those dorky Robin Hood hats, so don't even suggest it. But I need something . . .
( cosplay rambling )

Back in Dallas.
Yeah, it was good to be back in Austin for a bit. Work on cosplay, go to drinky parties, and have some days off. But it's also good to be in Dallas again, where I don't have to worry about my paycheck. I need to keep busy.
Today's bit of coolness is when I checked into the hotel the only room they had left was a handi-capable room. Hmm. I've always wanted to try one out, but I didn't know if that was taboo. I assumed that a handicap room would be a lot more spacious, but what if they asked to see my proof of handicappedness when I checked in? Uh, I left my wheelchair in my other pants? Wrong. That'd be embarrassing. Like worse than stealing their parking spot.
I told the hotel clerk, sure, I didn't mind. And boy oh boy, was I right about this room being big. It's HUGE! I've had apartments smaller than this room! I'm pleased because now I have plenty of room for cosplay-y stuff. Heck, I think I'll pitch that tent I bought for TRF, right in front of the TV. I need to practice setting it up, right? ;)

P.S. Everybody needs to watch the Venture Brothers premiere tonight! I'm gonna have my own little one-man viewing party, yay! (Secret viewing hint: keep an eye on Hank's hair)

I finally dragged my butt into the Austin office today. Literally 4 minutes after I sent out an office-wide email saying "I'm back and available," Boss #1 comes by and says, "Why don't you take a few days off? Things are real slow around here."
That was a shocker. Usually this guy is always: come in early, leave late, skip lunch, work weekends, holidays, etc. But hell, I didn't need to be told twice. I was outta there!
So I've got the rest of the week off! It's like Spring Break just fell into my lap. I bet y'all can guess what I'm going to do with all that free time. Yup.

But that only takes ten minutes. After that I'll work on cosplay. (Ha ha ha. That was a masturbation joke for those of you who missed it. Heh heh. I find myself so funny.)
So yeah, it's me and the cat here in the apartment. I'm trying to get work done, and she's "helping". Maybe I'll take her for a walk as a reward for being such a good helper.

( Last Order 12 )

According to my camera, I took over 300 pictures of this weekend's party. Upon review, about 290 of them are ridiculously blurry. The moral of this story, Cody? Set your camera settings BEFORE you start drinking. Or just go full Auto, you doofus.

I spent today driving to Dallas and back, in the rain. I was there for all of . . . 40 minutes? Just long enough to clear out my hotel room and GTFO. Actually, no, I was there a while longer after that. I couldn't NOT stop at Golden D'or. Spent about an hour there looking for material for my cloak. Finally I had to go to an upholstery store down the block to find something that would work. Hopefully this will be all of the big stuff I need to buy for the TRF costume; after buying the sewing machine I need to take it easy with the frivolous spending.
I found out today I'll be here in Austin all week, so I finally decided to unpack my bags. Now I'm going to have to start buying groceries and checking the mail and acting like I live here again. Wow, it's gonna be so weird.

Ha ha, wooo!
I hadn't even planned on buying a machine; according to the Singer website, that model was only available online. So I went to a sewing store just to look at the closest model. Lo and behold, my top two picks were right there on the shelf. I didn't even make eye-contact with the old sewing biddy who greeted me as I came in the store. I only had eyes for the machines. "I need to look at those commercial grade Singers," I said, pointing. The old lady said, "I'll demo it for you." I almost pushed her out of the way: "I'M gonna demo it!" I let her "demo" it for 15 minutes or so, though it only took me 1 minute to make my decision. It was good that I sat through the tutorial, I learned a couple things.
Yup, I took that puppy straight home and it started kicking ass straight out of the box. The only thing that kept it from being a flawless victory was the walking foot. Yes, I need it because I'm working with vinyl, but it prevents me from using the thread cutter. Other than that, it was the express lane to awesomeness.
Liz came home from work to find me in an ecstatic state and she correctly guessed that 1) I had already named my new machine and that 2) I think it's a sexy bitch. (She knows me too well.) Because of her sarcastic tone, I almost didn't tell her what I had named my new machine. (It's "Iron Horse," okay? He's that bad ass!) I'm sorry I name my truck, my computer, my camera, my sewing machine, and other belongings that I really like. I'm sorry I care so much.
So now it's full speed ahead on the costume! Tonight I hammered out the boot covers. In the next few days I think I'll slap together the vest and then slam some eyelets into it. Bam, bam, bam! Let's go!

P.S. I think this song is quite appropriate.

Last night's party was lots of fun. I was expecting more costumes, but for those who did wear one, bravo! Matt & Mitch's costumes were by far the funniest. My costume was funnier in my head than it was in reality. *shrug* I think there should be more eye patch cosplays in my future; wearing one is like an instant +10 coolness bonus. Even though Stephanie said she was po', she still managed to offer up quite a spread at the table. If I hadn't been so busying downing the suds, I would've really dug into the food. Oh! And Amelie brought along this cool ass jack-o-lantern with a really elaborate carving of an Alien (from the movie Aliens) on it. In hindsight I should've gotten a picture of it. I'll never see an equally cool jack-o-lantern for the rest of my life.
I guess technically, we didn't _DO_ anything at the party other than drink and hang out, unlike last year's party with all it's zombie events. This party was still tons of fun, regardless. I would upload pics if it weren't for the fact that my camera cable is in my Dallas hotel room.
I've been dragging ass today. It's okay, I knew the price of this ride. The hang-over's been chiefly in my stomach, which won't settle down regardless of how much food I put on top of it. I spent the afternoon packing and getting ready to head back to Dallas until I got a phone call saying I wouldn't need to go back till Wednesday, due to all the rain.

( sewing machine rambling )

Mmm boy, I'm having fun today. Woke up and got to working on vest, figuring out boot-covers, etc. Then headed to Jo-Ann's to buy one (and ONLY one) yard of fabric. For some reason that place was like an Artist's Alley today; there were a whole bunch of people with little folding tables set up for random craft-y stuff. If I had had my camera I would've taken a picture of this one lady's table that had a sign that said, "Need help with a costume? $1.50 per hour of help" Ha ha ha. I could just imagine some cosplayer coming in with armfuls of fabric and reference pictures: "I'm making a Trinity Blood costume. Help!" I don't think cosplayers are her target group, but it would be funny. While I was waiting my turn in the cutting line, I was standing next to the sewing machines when the voices in my head started talking. "Hey Cody, check out that machine. It's got those features you want. And all steel parts, OOooo. You're gonna be sewing leather for your TRF costume; no one's gonna want to lend you their sewing machine to sew leather with. You NEED your own sewing machine. And you've got that new credit card with no interest for 6 months. Now's the time. Pick up that box and put it in your cart. It's that easy. You need it in your life. Do it." I almost gave in. Buying a sewing machine with less than 5 minutes of thought put into it. But I resisted. Soon though, very soon.
After that I went next door to Spec's to get booze for tonight's costume gala. That got me excited too, all that happiness in those little cans, just waiting to be born. Then I went to Backstage Bazaar to get other costume-y stuff. The gay guy there showed me a simple technique for the make-up I want to do. Hopefully I can do it as well as he did; I'm gonna spend the rest of the afternoon practicing.
So yeah, I'm having a ball today. TRF costume, party costume, booze, learning new cosplay skills. I haven't been able to do this stuff for so long now. It's fun!

Because I only come out when it rains, I guess?
Yeah, our grand poo-ba bosses finally gave us the weekend off, in the face of this rain. (That was 18 work-days in a row for those of you counting.) Boy, I need this weekend because I was getting pretty grumpy at work. I had been keeping my spirits up by daydreaming/looking forward to my TRF camping trip, but that's still weeks away so it's silly to get too excited about it just yet.
Fortunately there's some fun stuff going on this weekend. I've been out-of-town/out-of-the-loop for so long that I'm elated that I can finally hang out with people. A costume-themed birthday party on Saturday = cool. I had trouble coming up with an idea for my costume; I'm still not too sure it'll be considered funny, but whatever. After a few beers everything'll be hilarious. So I'll be spending today going to Goodwills to get the stuff, and putting the costume together. Tomorrow during the day I may continue working on my TRF costume. It's nothing too fancy, but considering how slow I am when it comes to soft cosplay, it's going to take me a while.
Sunday I'll be heading back to Dallas. Some people have suggested going to the Texas State Fair, which I haven't been to since I was an 8-year old munchkin. I'm quite curious to see it again, as a grown-up. Is Big Tex still creepy as hell? I dunno.
So yeah, hooray for stuff to do, finally! Woo!

So if there's one good thing about this Dallas job, is that it's afforded me a lot of spare time to catch up on my reading. I always have trouble picking new authors to read so I let Discover magazine's list of the "25 Greatest Science Books of All Time" pick for me. I figured this way, even if I didn't like the book, at least I'd learn something from it.

( History )

( Religion )

( War )

( Genetics )

( Physics )

( Romance, WTF?!? )

I feel like such a stalker when I'm surfing Facebook. I don't trust myself there. I don't need any encouragement to be a stalker. I would blame whoever invited me to sign up, if I could remember who it was.

Tonight at Wal-Mart I bought a 30-pack of beer (Shiner Bock because I'm Texan) and a skateboard.

Brilliant or idiotic?

Future generations will be the judge.