I’m making a pair of puppet arms out of handmade paper. It’s for my sculptural papermaking class (other things I’v made ) and we’re collaborating with the choreographing class to make a dance involving paper sculpture. I took plaster casts of my partner’s arms, then used sheets of abaca paper that we made together (she’d never done anything like that before, being a dancer, not a visual artist. She was so excited) to make paper arm sections. I dipped them in paraffin wax to strengthen them, but I want to melt off the excess wax so they look more like rawhide than paper dipped in wax, but our heat gun broke, so I’m currently out of luck on that. When I do get the extra wax melted off, I’m going to put the arm sections on a framework made of wooden dowels (the “bones”) and vinyl tubing (the flexible joints).
Our dance (she wants me to dance, which will be interesting, as I’m as much a dancer as she is a papermaker) will incorporate papermaking motions, and it’s going to be really awesome if we can finish in time. It’s due next Thursday, so it’s kind of a rush, but I’m still really excited about it.
Man, you all are so productive and industrious! I’m a lazy sod who likes to work/play at my computer. I started and maintain a MySpace page for an indie artist I like, free of charge, of course. It takes up a lot of time, but it’s my choice. I don’t request adds from individuals or companies (with very few exceptions), but I do request adds from bands/solo artists of many different genres, partially to find new music to listen to, and partially because I think my artist should be known among other musicians, if only just as an FYI entry in their brain’s musical encyclopedia. I listen to the music on their page and read the profiles before I request an add. I keep track of everyone I’ve ever requested an add from (including those who turned down my request), and everyone who’s requested an add. I leave Comments and write people introductory letters, and answer e-mail. It’s a lot of fun. More people have discovered her since I put up her page on MySpace than have discovered her in the previous 10 years.
I love my computer. Now if I could only find a way to make a living from sitting at home being on the Internet that didn’t involved spam, spyware or porn.
I am doing some very preliminary writing on an idea for a popular history of this decade. I reread Only Yesterday and Since Yesterday and thought the only way to duplicate the effort for this decade would be to start now.
I’ve spent the last couple days removing all organic debris from my rock garden.
When I’m done with that, I’m planning on grouping my stones by color, and maybe making some Andy Goldsworthy style rip-off that the local kids will destroy, but it’s all good.
I’m also planning on trying to make a shirt. I’m not sure if I’ll get to that until October.
How exciting! Spring knitty!!! And there’s another sock from Cookie! Clearly that will have to be my next project. I just finished Pomatomus, and they are looking very handsome after their first washing!
I’m organizing a Civilizationconvention in Baltimore, MD this summer, one featuring Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds, and representatives from their companies (Firaxis and Big Huge Games).
That’s my big project for the year (well, my big non-work-related project). Next year I’m thinking of building a MAME arcade cabinet.
I’m organizing a Civilization convention in Baltimore, MD this summer, one featuring Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds, and representatives from their companies (Firaxis and Big Huge Games).
That’s my big project for the year (well, my big non-work-related project). Next year I’m thinking of building a MAME arcade cabinet.
Doing some landscaping to prepare for building a shed in the back yard. Then to do something about those weeds in the front yard, and hopefully lay a paver walkway along the side of the house. But the real project is figuring out when to squeeze in all of this work in a spring/summer in which the weekends are already filling up quickly.
I’m in the very last stages (waiting for paint to dry) of assembling two model kits. They’re caricatures of '60s-era hep cats and rockers, put out by Testors. The parts fit together fine, and the poses are cool. But I’m having the devil of a time getting one of the seams puttied over, and the oil paints I’m using take forever to dry and don’t cover very well to boot, so there’s a little frustration here at the end.
