Origins of Words

Have you ever gotten a word stuck in your head, and then started pondering the origins of the word? Today, the word 'handsome' started tumbling around in my brain. When I think about it, it's such a weird word, especially in the context in which it is used.

When typed into Google, the result is:

hand·some/ˈhan(d)səm/

Adjective:

(of a man) Good-looking. (of a woman) Striking and imposing in good looks rather than conventionally pretty.

What I don't understand is how a combination of 'hand' and 'some' can come to mean 'good-looking'. When I looked up the origins of the word, it still didn't make an extreme amount of sense. Handsome used to mean 'easy to handle'. I guess if I twist my mind a bit, easy to handle could refer to ease of handling someone's appearance. Nonetheless....

The quizzical housewife image above still stands.

Good Things

Two exciting things.

One.

 After the recent inheritance of a beautiful pull-over sweater, I discovered that the inside of the label screams my name. 'FOX'. Perfect =^.^=

Two.

Here are three types of racks that I have in my possession. Dish rack, shower rack, and deer antlers (it's a rack!). When I realized this I became bizarrely delighted and then pondered the concept of using one of them for all three things. Or mixing it up and switching the responsibility of each one.

Muffins and Pinholes

Well... I made muffins... Chocolate chip banana muffins, no less!

I have also been experimenting with pinhole cameras (which I've done before, and love the process of). So far my only truly successful photo is this one:

I'm not sure how it's supposed to be aligned, and I'm not even sure what I took a photo of. It's still the negative, so I have no idea what the big white (actually big BLACK) blur on the top left is. I took it in a cemetery on a really sunny day, and I really have no idea what happened. The other ones I've attempted either didn't expose properly or something. This one is fairly successful, despite the mystery. It looks ghostly (shocking! It's pinhole!), which I like. I'm probably not going to turn it into a positive, simply because I like it this way.

Snake(s)

We've had many garter snakes around our house. They like to spend their time around our front step, slithering around and enjoying their snake-y life. There is one that has gotten stuck in a small hole twice or three times now, and we're concerned about that one. Today, we came across another who might be the same snake, but we're not sure. There was a curious thing about its head...

It's hard to tell, but there's a curious little bump or gash on the side of its head. It almost looks like the poor thing ripped part of it head. It's lively and well, and if it is a wound,  it's healing quite well. If this is the same snake that keeps getting stuck, I'm quite thrown by it.

Why, you ask?

Well.... 1) I've never heard of a snake getting stuck. 2) I've never seen anything like a snake presumably ripping its face off, but still able to heal. I'm impressed by this snake, but also saddened. It's having a tough time. When I was called over to see this snake, it was thought that it might be two headed. Which would have been too cool. However, it is not... It's just an extremely resilient (and pretty) snake.

For the record, two headed snakes do exist, and tend to thrive quite well. The situation of conjoined twins happens in all species, but for some reason, with Honduran Milk Snakes in particular, they seem to be relatively common ("relative" meaning, in this sentence, that it's still 1 in at least 10,000 or more). And they're so pretty....

Up and at 'em

Blah... such a long time since I last posted. My apologies to those of you who follow my blog and are actually interested in what I have to say.

Now, for an update. I'm currently contemplating following in the creative footsteps of a friend of mine, and giving myself the hefty challenge of making something every day for an entire year. I'm not sure if I can be dedicated enough, but...

For now I'm trying to make any entire steampunk outfit in the span of two weeks, almost entirely from scratch. A lot of the materials I'm using are recycled and found, and basically whatever I have laying around. Here are a few things I've been working on...

The last one is dark and a bit obscure. Why? It's part of my steampunk outfit! And I shan't reveal any of it until the ultimate reveal. Just wait....

The top two are going to be on my Etsy shop very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

International Steampunk Day

In world news, today is International Steampunk Day. It is on June 14th because of H.G. Wells' birthday. A gentleman who is responsible for the inspiration of such a beautiful and awe-inspiring sub-culture. This guy:

I wasn't able to celebrate the day to its fullest, since I had to work. However, I'm sure that I would have done plenty of 19th century adventurers proud, working along side the fossils of prehistoric beasts. Tip of a hat to you, Mister Edward Drinker Cope.

However, I did still try my best to steam up in as much of my gear as possible. The underbust corset with front lacing, knee high boots with large zippers and buckles, and a 19th century necklace which I recently inherited.

Stop as steampunk and Old West as I'd like to be... but in a snap it works, and it's nice to be wearing some of my favourite clothes again.

Now, off to create Steampunk things and listen to tales of automatons and gun slingers... Brothel madams wielding derringers and flying machines which reach the stars. Best wishes on this day to you all!

Christmas in June!

Oh, to receive orders (and surprise packages!) in the post. It's wonderful! Even if you bought most of the things that you received. Who cares!

First of all, check out all of these great packaging details. I'm very fond of when sellers and companies offer an extra little something in the delivery that brings a smile to the opener's face. For example...

Nimble Matters

CreativeARTifacts

Photojojo

Yes. The last one had a stow-away. To be fair, in the picture it is a sauropod, which is typically Jurassic, and the true stow-away was a type of plesiosaur. None the less, I shall welcome it with open arms. Plus, it's glow in the dark.

Oh, what fun things! Such a mess from packaging, but lots of exciting things. Too many to really show, but to give you an idea... I received some charms, some optical lenses, goggles, pinhole cameras and developing kits, and, my new pet...

My mouse! Hieronymous! The last name is still being debated, as Hieronymous is naturally a name that has to be followed by something. Like Hieronymous Bosch, one of my favourite dead painters (and painters in general). It is my favourite name, and therefore, that is the name of my darling taxidermy mouse. It was saved from being eaten by a snake, and was instead transformed into this adorable little thing, which is soft with big black eyes and a pleasant demeanour. For all of you taxidermy enthusiasts out there, I got it as a custom order from Nimble Matters on Etsy. The communication with the seller was top-notch, and I couldn't be more pleased. I highly suggest the shop for anyone looking for a tiny mouse friend.

In other news, this is the mess that I was left with...

Worth it? Oh yes. I'm going to have fun for weeks. I have so many things to make! I'm so inspired, and I have a little friend to keep me company as I sew and craft away.

Further Adventures In Easy Cuisine

Ah, the luxuries of having social times during the week. By 'luxuries' I mean unfortunate that I have to buy food. I was intending to buy french fries, but, alas. If there is no one coming to take my order, I'm not going to hang around and wait for however long.

Any who...

This is the food that I ended up getting.

Arizona Green Tea with ginseng and honey (iced tea), fortune cookies, and instant ichiban style noodles. I'm noticing a bizarre trend... I'm sad that I don't have my chop sticks with me.

Well, while we're at it, let's see what my fortune is...

To be honest, I opened a fortune cookie before this one, and it was significantly more thought provoking. However, I was outside on a picnic bench, enjoying some fresh air, and did not have my camera with me at the time.

Pretty Things

Treasure hunting! Courtesy of my loved ones...

Because of my interest in old things and dead things, my mum gave me some treasures from her collection. My favourite pieces are a cat skull..

The cat skull is so small, and precious. It's also really smooth. No idea where it came from...but it's so pretty. I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I will likely care for it and show it utmost respect.

As for the necklace, how cool is this? It's a really bizarre glass bead, and it feels like... Not sure. It's super smooth and soft. Check out the stitch and beading work! Beautiful.

Along with the cat skull, I was given some ivory, and various other pieces. The white necklace is for something else, but I wanted to share it (and the gorgeous craft).

Yellow

It is yet another dreary, rainy day. Relatively chilly, and overcast. To counteract this, I decided to go on an Etsy adventure... of yellow things! Yellow is such a bright colour, synonymous to the sun and everything cheerful. Is it any wonder that rain coats and rubber boots are yellow? Don't get me started on things like ducklings and chicks.

Divine Domestication

The Pillow People

Uneek Glass Fusions

Fruit Fly Pie

FashPash

There's always sunshine!

Apple today, Gone tomorrow

Behold, the apple. Roughly fist sized. Sweet and juicy. Delicious. I eat them during car trips, and tend to cut them up into slices, making the apple to convenient sizes, allowing me to pick up a piece and munch on it whenever the mood strikes me.

That is how I discovered that this apple was aspiring to become a tree. Or, its child was?

I think the idea of a sprout growing out of an apple seed is super cool. I mean, apple seeds are incredibly small, yet contain small amounts of poison, and reside within a fruit. Not an overwhelmingly exciting existence. And yet, here is the little seed, deciding that it wants to be a tree. It's kind of mind-blowing. It's like... A tree, within an apple. The tree grows apples, but the apple is growing the tree. WHAT?!

Again, my anxious guilt regarding eating fruit and vegetables. I still have the most issues with yeast, but now I think of ambitious little apple seeds wanting more out of life. Yeah, I still ate it. I feel better about it since I have been inspired by the apple seed. It's probably a sign or a message or something... Right?

Impeccable Logic

I'm not going to say what huge business this belongs to, but it somehow amused me. This is a portion of the sign above the lot where you return your carts to (you know, the ones in the middle of the parking lot). If you read all of the white as one sentence, it looks like there is a reason why they are not responsible for damage caused by carts.

The reason? They sell for less. Every day.

I'm not sure that everyone would connect the phrases in the same way that I do. Maybe I'm one of the only people who connects things based on colour, regardless of font?

Of COURSE!

Apparently what happens when you type 'epiphany face' into Google images

The combination of loneliness and lack of self-satisfaction and other esteem-depriving feats has started to make me... Not great. Inevitable. Not really, but you know.

I'm having serious issues with my summer thus far, and a lot of that seems to be stemming from making things  almost 24/7 and then having to switch to working full time. I am able to make things, but it's not the same, and I'm not in an area where materials are readily available. Not to mention the fact that I haven't been able to sort through all of the materials and supplies that I have. Issues. Contributing to my personal issues are things like inferiority complexes, and not being in a large enough group of different people. I really miss art school. A huge reason being I miss being in classes and working with others and having critiques. Sure, I don't necessarily have outside of school friends, but I didn't care, because it was enough of a balance to keep me relatively sane, while giving me time to myself at home. Now I am living at home-home, and I work almost every day. I love my job, and I like living at home (for shorter periods, now that I'm twenty and crave independence, which my parents thankfully give me), but it's too much of a shift. I don't know why, and it's driving me insane. It makes me all avoid-y and I can't function properly and it's not good...

I need a way to make my routine and life me-friendly again. I'd like to be able to break away from feeling lonely and unaccomplished and everything.

Now, comes the fun part. I had an epiphany. It's not actually loneliness that bothers me, because I'm not actually lonely. My issue is lack of immediate gratification. I do receive gratification, but it's not necessarily the same kind. It's not 'Whoa, you made something amazing' or '...Tha.. Is that real??' or anything. It's more 'Oh good, you did this.'

I realize that I'm ranting yet again. That is one of the reasons why I created this blog. It is kind of an outlet for me, even if it makes me less productive. Apparently I'm just in desperate need of creating art and having a reason to do it. Unfortunately and fortunately, all of the projects I could be working on are collaborative. Apparently I don't play well with others, and the thing is... I'm not sure that I want to. Sure, it's good for a person to go outside of their comfort zone. Yet, at the same time, it just makes me gnaw at the bit, stamp my feet, and feel like a caged animal without anything to do except eat and sleep and feel sick.

Now that I've had the a-fore mentioned epiphany, it's a matter of making myself productive. I should start embroidering again. The embroidery-a-day project was good for me.

Cereal

Every week, some friends and co-workers of mine get together to nerd out. Usually we play a board game, or D&D, or watch a B-movie (to mock it, of course). Last night we played D&D (with too many people, unfortunately). One major part of any game night is snacks. While choosing my own, I decided that the best option was breakfast cereal. Therefore, I bought Cap'n Crunch and some milk.

Of course, I decided to promote the Captain. I was instead eating Admiral Crunch.

To explain...

It only explains it... slightly. However, if you don't like Admiral Crunch, how about some Archduke Chocula? 

Difficulty

Thinking about tasks that are made difficult simply by one minor difference, I decided to make a graph depicting a couple of tasks made difficult.

Movie Time

On a whim, I decided to try and find cool Old West themed short films. I've found a couple decent ones on YouTube before, and since I was working on my Old West inspired and set story, it seemed fitting. Here are my favourites!

A couple are a bit violent. Some more than others. I guess faint of heart beware? Which, when involving the Old West, should be considered before having anything to do with the Old West.

Enjoy!

How To Find New Things

New discoveries! Without the use of social networking. Instead... Google images. Today, I discovered a fantastic indie band, simply by typing in bizarre things into Google images. Undoubtedly, this could be horrible hit-or-miss, but today is was an absolute success. I was typing in 'fabric tent spooky' and one of the results was a picture of a band called 'Spooky Campers'.

For the record, this is the image I found:

Which allowed me to conclude that they were an indie band. Was I correct? Yes. Are they amazing? DEFINITELY.

I can't really describe their sound. They remind me of mixtures of other music I've been frequenting lately, like Wolf & Cub, maybe some alt-punk, some Black Keys type sounds, all the while having a definite Canadian feel. I don't know what that means, but it means something, and it's there. I'm proud to be from the same country as such musicians.

Just to be safe, here is a link to the music on Bandcamp. Enjoy, enjoy, and enjoy further!

Pinteresting!

Pinterest! A friend of mine or a family member or someone invited me a while ago, and I'm finding that I spend a lot of time pinning and re-pinning images and ideas. It's an amazing time-waster, but it has allowed me to find plenty of beautiful things and wonderful inspiration. I've decided to diverge a bit from my usual Etsy adventures, and share some of the neat things that I've found scrounging around and flitting around on Pinterest.

Unfortunately, I can never really find where a lot of these images originally come from... This is especially too bad when someone posts an amazing looking recipe. Still... The images below are wonderful, and I hope that stir your soul and mind just as much as they did mine.

And to you, dear readers I wish you happy searching, happy finding, and happy creating!