Recovery Period

Whoops...

I didn't realize until late last night that I had gotten off schedule with my posts. I was supposed to have book reviews for today but I don't have them ready to go yet. The confusion comes from my being sick. I posted my string art progress last week so I figured I had two weeks before I needed to post again. The fact that I posted late due to ear problems somehow never processed.

Unfortunately, I don't really have anything to share with you all this week. I spent a week home sick with a crazy bad ear infection. I did almost nothing but take medicine and sleep. The meds that I had for my ears also made me drowsy and a bit nauseous. Then the next week even though my ears were getting better I was still feeling too tired to do much, so I haven't accomplished anything for quite a while. We did go shopping and picked up this cool Lego knight.

I was surprised to see that she's a woman but that just makes her even more awesome. She came with a badass flaming ax, a nice mace/ hammer, and a backpack powered shoulder cannon.

She also has a regular ready for battle smirk on one side of her head and a battle worn look on the other.

This week I am finally feeling like I have the energy to do things again but am using it to help get the house back in order. There's lots of laundry and such that needs catching up on. I don't mean to imply that my husband didn't do anything around the house while I was sick. It's really the opposite. He worked hard to take care of things but he was at work 9 hour days and was taking care of me in the evenings. I'm sure we will have everything back under control in no time and I'll continue the seemingly never-ending process of putting in nails for the string art.

DIY String Art- Part One- Design

String art is really popular right now but searching for ideas can be disappointing. You seem to find two basic types of sites either very generic patterns without a lot of detail(like the left) or more elaborate patterns with links to where you can buy the finished product not make your own. (as on the right) Both are very cool but if, like me, you'd like to know more about creating your own read on.

                                

 I've been working a string art piece to fill a large empty wall in our house  and thought I'd walk you through the entire process. By the end, you should not only be able to recreate my design exactly if you like but also come up with your own awesome creation.

The first step is to choose a design. String art uses the mathematical concept of creating curves with straight lines. (You can read more about it on websites here and here. )The best designs are going to be either entirely geometric or a combo of straight and curved lines. I decided to make a design using the Hylian crest and master sword from the Legend of Zelda. We have a very large empty space above our couch so I decide to use a base that was 4 foot by 4 foot. I'm sure that there's a variety of ways to get your design transferred to your base I'll walk you through my method and all the pros and cons for it.

I first created the design I wanted by layering some elements in Photoshop but I had problems when I tried to increase the size in that program. By the time it was large enough to fill the space I wanted the design had become much too pixelated and blurry to be useful. So I decided to use a projector to trace the design. The first step involved taping sheets of paper together to get a large enough piece for the design. I also ran into issues with this method. If I printed the design larger, it was easier to get it sized correctly and in focus but I could only fit a portion of it under the projector at once. It was very difficult to get the parts to line up by raising and lowering the projector. When I attempted to print it small enough the entire design fit on the projector at one time I could either get it in focus or large sized but not both at once.

I finally managed to get one-half transferred well and then took advantage of the large picture window at my Mom's house to trace the other half.

Once you have your design the next step is to think about the pattern of lines you want to use in order to figure out your nail placement. I did this mostly by doodling parts of the design and later drawing directly on my template to try things out. I'll talk more about the details of my design when I post about the actual order to wrap the string but when you look at the template you will see there are some lines that have no nails at all because they are created by the string between other points.

I tried to use a variety of patterns on the different parts of my design. The pattern you use will determine nail placement. For the shield areas, I am using a random all-over design so the edges have nails about every half-inch. The sword blade has a chevron with half-inch on the outside edge and I think it was one and a half inches down the center. The handle also has nails every half-inch on the outside, less down the center. There actually end up being some closer together just to help define the shape. I am doing a simple outline on the handle so I needed a nail anywhere the handle turned. The triforce has nails every half-inch on each side of every triangle and so on. I will post the template for download so you can see the exact placement but I wanted to give a general idea for those trying to create their own unique spin.

Once you have the template and design all figured out its time to get your base ready. I am using a 47 by 47-inch sheet of pine plywood. I sanded it down a bit and painted it with flat black spray paint.

At this point, I am still working on getting all the nails placed. I have been waylaid by a variety of things such as cleaning up branches that fell during storms. I've also spent this last week fighting an ear infection so I hope that everything in this post makes sense. Feel free to ask questions in the comments if you need clarification, as I get to feeling better I should be able to make more sense.

You simply put a nail at each point marked on the template. They need to be deep enough to hold firmly but not so deep you don't have space to wrap the string around later. Ideally, everything should be in straight even lines and the all the nails at the same height.

I gave up on this because I realized that with the number of nails I needed to hammer in if I worried about perfection I'd never be done. Because of the type of board, I'm using some of the nails have gone in super easily while other require more hammering. At this point, I've used a box and a half of nails, worked for around 3 hours total and have a little more than a quarter of the design hammered in.

Librocubicularist July 2016

I have a HUGE project that has been in the planning stages for what feels like forever. In the past week, I think I've finalized the design and am ready to start the actual crafting process. Stick around till the end of the post for a sneak peek but right now I've got book reviews to share.


Uprooted by Naomi Novik

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a fairytale, complete with wizards, witches, a prince, and an evil forest.
I found the main story really interesting. The main character learns that she is a witch and uses magic to help fight the evil woods. Without giving away the end of the book, I will say that the power behind the wood and its reasons for malice were not what I expected. There is a lot of confusion related to her struggle to learn magic. For some reason, that is never stated, the wizard never tells her that she has the ability to use magic and needs to learn to control it, he simply starts forcing her to cast spells with no explanation. Due to the fact that the magic leaves her exhausted and weak, she comes to the conclusion that he's simply using her to power his own magic as some kind torture. It takes entirely too long for her to realize what's really going on. Even when she knows he's trying to teach her they don't have much better luck. It turns out that she uses a completely different form of magic, kind of like wizards vs sorcerors in Dungeons and Dragons.
My favorite parts of the book dealt with the discussions about the 'correct' way to cast spells and what should or shouldn't be possible.


Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


After having it come up constantly as a recommendation I decided to go ahead and read this, despite having some reservations. I'm not really big on the drinking/ drug deal and also don't tend to be a big fan of excess violence so the description of the characters as booze guzzling and death-dealing really wasn't very appealing.
After reading it I have very mixed feelings. The overall storyline was entertaining and had the feel of Dungeons and Dragons campaign. The banter between the main characters has the feel of old friends who insult each other but deep down know they care about each other. I would be interested in learning more about the backgrounds of the characters and their connections to each other and it seems like the story is moving that way. I am curious to see where it goes.
On the other hand, there is a lot of focus on drugs and drinking and quite a bit of cursing. While some of that is alright there are places in the story where it gets really over the top and I felt like it distracted from the story instead of adding anything.

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 1: Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was super excited to find this at my local library. I love the art that this series is based on and wanted to read the story.
I feel like this volume was mostly set-up for a bigger story. It has the origin stories of several of the Bombshells and you see the beginnings of the Bombshell team being assembled by Amanda Waller but there isn't a clear explanation of how the team operates.
I really enjoyed reading it and can't wait to learn more about this alternate version of the DC world.



View all my reviews


And now for the sneak peek...

Is that a tri-force back there? Yes, it is. What is this going to turn into? Check back in a few weeks and see.

Tips for Pokemon GO

I've never been much of a Pokemon player. I haven't played any of the original games, just watched some of cartoon and movies. Since I had friends that were into Pokemon I did play Pokemon Snap where you take pictures of Pokemon and I had fun with that but that's really the extent of my contact with it. I only have a vague understanding of the various types and how rare they might be and can never remember what order anything evolves in. However, my husband was super excited about the release of Pokemon Go as well as several of our friends so Wednesday night I downloaded the app to play along with them. I have to say so far it's really been a lot of fun. Gil LOVES it because so far it just means more walks for him.

Gil helped us track down a Nidoran at the local park.

The game is new so there are still some glitches and problems with connections and I can't offer any advice or help with that. I also haven't tried any battles yet and can't offer advice in that area either but I thought I'd try to gather some basic tips into one place and share my experience so far in case it can help anyone out there.

1. Pokestops and Gyms
One of the main things in the game is visiting Pokestops to earn experience and find items. The best areas around us seem to be large outdoor shopping areas and parks. Benches or outdoor art mean easy to find locations within a short distance from each other. Of the two I prefer to visit the parks because there is less worry about traffic and less intrusive hanging around a bench in the park vs outside someone's business.
Since the game is made by the company that produces Ingress, the Pokestops and gym location are the same as Ingress portal locations. However, half the fun my husband and I've had is driving around town looking to see what we can find so I haven't bothered to look the locations up. If you're having problems finding good places you can try that or see if there's a facebook group for local Pokemon players. We've joined Pokemon GO KC and people have been sharing locations for rare finds and also alerting others when and where they plan to use a lure to draw more Pokemon so other players can join them.

2. Finding and Tracking Pokemon
Pokemon are supposed to appear in part based on their type, such as water types appearing near rivers. How that actually translates to the real world gets a little weird, though. For instance, if you don't happen to live near a volcano, what constitutes a fire type location? Where can you find electric types? I've read that fire types can be found near fire stations but so far haven't seen any evidence to support the theory. It is also rumored that time of day plays a factor in what appears such as fire types appearing during hotter times of the day. I'm inclined to believe this one because most of the fire type I've spotted have been found at either midday or sunset. However, I also found a Ponyta at 11pm during a thundershower so it can't be the only factor.

I found a Geodude in an underground parking garage and a friend of ours says he found Onix in the tennis courts at his apartment complex so check similar areas for rock types.

We are still trying to figure out exactly how to use the in-game tracking feature. The basic are fairly easy to grasp, the more tracks it shows the farther away thePokemonn is, but finding which direction to go can be tricky.

                                  

We've noticed that the Pokemon it shows nearby shift position on the grid quite a bit and we have a theory that it might indicate which direction they are in. We haven't had time to test it out properly but basically, if a Pokemon is in the center bottom of the array then it would be directly behind you and so on. In the picture above, the Diglett would be forward and to the right of your current location. It seems to be slow updating your location at times so I'd give it a minute to re-orient after a turn. Check it out and let me know how it works.

The final thing I will mention is that your level does play a factor. The higher level you are the more powerful the Pokemon you find will be and more rare Pokemon will appear. There have been times when a rare Pokemon shows nearby for my husband but doesn't appear in my tracker. (He is 2-3 levels ahead of me) However, when he catches up to it then it will usually appear on my screen allowing me to catch it as well. It makes a good reason to get out and hunt with friends of various levels.

3. Egg Hatching
One of the things that you find at Pokestops are eggs that you can hatch. Each egg has a distance attached to it and you need to walk that far, with the app open, for the egg to hatch. We have found that driving does count but not for a much as walking. Going over bumps and such will register as steps and hatch the egg but you'll drive much farther than 5km before the 5k egg hatches, walking syncs up much more closely. Update: Apparently it counts driving when under 15 mph as distance for egg hatching.

You can find a list of what types can hatch out of the various level eggs here, or just wait and be surprised at what you find.

4. Battery Life
Obviously walking around all day with your phone on and the app using GPS and camera is going to take a toll on your battery life.  If you have a portable power bank or charger that will add to your available power. Here's a few thing you can do to help maximise the power you do have.

Battery Saver Mode
If you go to setting in Pokemon Go you can turn on battery saver mode. Normally if your phone locks or goes to sleep the app will shut down, but with battery saver turned on if you turn your phone upside down it keeps the app running but without any of the music or graphics running. It will still buzz or vibrate to let you know when a Pokemon appears and bring everything right back up when you flip the phone back over.

Turn off the AR camera.
The augmented reality camera shows you where the Pokemon is located in the real world but you can still catch them with it turned off, they just appear in front of a generic background. I know this used more battery but I like to leave it on. I mentioned earlier that Pokemon Snap is the only Pokemon game I've really played and as such finding a Pokemon in a cool setting and snapping a pic is satisfying and worthwhile to me but may not be for others.

5. Data Usage
Also running around with your phone constantly trying to update your GPS location can use a bunch of data so if you have a limited plan you may need to keep and eye on that. I've had some problems with my GPS not updating properly so that the game showed Pokemon nearby even after I'd moved out of the area. We ended up hooking my phone to the Wi-fi hotspot on my husband's which gave me a much better connection and seemed to help with the GPS difficulties.

Since that's not an option for everyone you can also try using Goggle maps offline.

6. Pokemon Etiquette
While you're playing be considerate of other people, both those playing and not. I've seen numerous people complaining online about their business being interrupted by Pokemon or being angry and suspicious of strangers in their yards at night. There is no reason you should need to be in anyone else's lawn. Show respect for other peoples property. Don't stand around and block doors to businesses or otherwise disrupt their operation. Pay attention to things like park hours and no trespassing signs. Don't neglect your job to play.

A lot of churches are either Pokestops or gyms but maybe Sunday isn't the best day to check these particular locations.

No one wants to be the cause of bad publicity for something they enjoy.

7. Safety Issues
Speaking of bad publicity, there are several new stories circulating about robberies or traffic accidents linked to Pokemon Go. So far most of them seem to be false but use some common sense on your Poke adventures. I know that time of day plays a factor and some Pokemon are nocturnal but maybe the middle of the night isn't the best time to hunt for ghost types in the cemetery alone. Take along some backup and let someone know where you're going to be and check in with them. Also, it is super hot outside right now so be sure to drink enough to stay hydrated and keep cool. Use sunscreen so you don't burn. If you are in more natural areas think about using bug spray and keep and eye out for ticks and such.
It should go without saying but don't play and drive. Keeping your phone in battery saver while you drive to see if you help that egg hatch is one thing, hitting Pokestops and attempting to make catches while driving is not alright.
I've heard Pikachu can be found during thunderstorms but be cautious about being outside with your phone around lighting. Don't let something fun turn into a tragedy.


Everyone have fun and stay safe out there. If you have any additional tips I'd love to hear them. I'm particularly interested in what kind of locations various types can be found.

Librocubicularist June 2016

For whatever reason I didn't get much reading done this month and apparently I was on a bit of a Star Wars kick as well... Anyways, here's a bit of what I've been up to these past few weeks and my book reviews. My husband and I have started taking turns playing Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. We both started games years ago but neither of us ever finished so we decided to take a tag-team approach. It's been a lot more fun than searching thru Netflix for something every night. We are on our way to the last sword upgrade.

I've also started working on a new project to decorate our living room wall. I hope to have it finished with a tutorial for my next post but here's a sneak peek of the planning.

Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I have really mixed feeling about this book. It tells the story of Darth Plagueis and by extension his apprentice Darth Sidious. The book begins with Plagueis killing his former master and follows all the way through Palpatine's appointment as Chancellor. Overall the tale spans several decades worth of time and I felt like the author did a good job with the story. It ties in well with previously known events and characters. There is lots of crazy behind the scenes manipulations on the part of the Sith Lords as they attempt to mold the Force to their will.
The problems that I have are the parts of the story that focus on midi-chlorians. I realize that they are a part of the Star Wars canon now but the whole midi-chlorian thing is kind of lame in my opinion. Plagueis conducts multiple experiments involving midi-chlorians in order to better understand them and prolong his life. He is able to apply his knowledge to revive victims from near death and create pregnancies in animals. He is eventually able to manipulate his own midi-chlorians to keep himself alive indefinitely.

(view spoiler)[He and Sidious attempt to create a human life by manipulating the force but believe they have failed. I was a little unclear on what actually happens here. I'm pretty sure that the force creates Anakin as a reaction to their attempted manipulation but the book is a little fuzzy on the details. (hide spoiler)]

Overall although I don't care for the midi-chlorians as a story element I think that it was handled well and makes sense with the overall existing universe.

The other issue that I had was an overuse of large words. Generally speaking, I don't mind a lot of complicated words, that in and of itself isn't a problem. Most things were easily inferred from context and I kind of enjoy looking up new words, however, there were times where it seemed awkward and forced. The worst case for me, was the following sentence. "Here is where your path bifurcates, young human."
In conclusion, although I didn't give it a very high rating, I think that this book was worth reading in order to keep up with the current Star Wars lore but didn't necessarily enjoy the subject matter.


Star Wars: Tales From a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Vol. 1: Aliens by Landry Q. Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a collection of short stories that deals with Aliens from The Force Awakens. There is a lot of crazy stuff going on these stories, everything from mad scientists to an Iron Chef style cooking contest, and that makes it great. There are six stories in all and they over a range of styles or story types. There is western/ bank robber story, a pirate story, and even a bit of a love story (although a strange one).
Books like this are why I enjoy stories written for kids. Adult books just don't seem to ever have the same level of just outright goofiness.

The picture below shows a bit of this humor by highlighting a passage with the much used "I've got a bad feeling about this." line.

I've also been reading Vertical Vegetables and Fruit by Rhonda Massingham Hart. I haven't quite finished it yet but it is a book about growing vertically both to save space and because it benefits the plants. We eventually want to start a backyard garden but at the moment we don't have a working hose hookup and the makes it nearly impossible.

I'm also still following along with The Idea Room's photo a day challenge for June so check out my Facebook page for the last few days of pictures.

Pet Approved Crafts

Once again my focus this month has been on our pets. We have been working on training with Gil, mostly to try and teach him to stay calm. He gets overly excited when we meet people and other dogs while walking and wants to jump up on everyone. He also has a tendency to run crazy in the house and we're working to show him how to relax and just hang out with us. On top of that Gil is teething so he wants to chew EVERYTHING.

With the focus on dog training and finding teething toys, the cats have been feeling a bit left out. We had to put all of their jingle bell balls away because they are small enough to be dangerous for Gil. We bought a larger cat ball with a bell inside and, of course, Gil decided he loves it. (I'm pretty sure he thinks he's at least part cat!) 

I also decide to make some special homemade cat toys using instruction I found here. They went together very easily, quickly, and are approved by ALL 4 pets. Here is video proof of how much they love them.

Baldur didn't get to play with the orange one until after Gil got ahold of it and he wasn't impressed. However, after I made him a nice blue one that matched his eyes he was much more intrigued.

I also found time to make the second bandana I had planned for Gil, using the Castle Wulfenbach insignia. I used the same method for his Easter bandana, you can check it out for more details in this post. I drew the design on with a chalk pencil and finished it with silver fabric paint and black fabric pen for details.

Much like the other bandana it seems overly large for him but he's only 5 months old and still growing so it will fit better in time.

I've also been doing a photo a day challenge which you can follow on the facebook page or my new Instagram account @eclecticotter.

Librocubicularist- May 2015

This past week seems like it has gone on forever. It has been raining almost non-stop and there have been thunderstorm warnings, tornado warnings, and flash floods in the area. We have been really stressed out due to water pooling in our yard, near our foundation, making us afraid of flooding, as well as the fact that Gil doesn't like the weather. He doesn't like to go outside when it's raining but at the same time, he doesn't want to be cooped up inside either. On top of all that my husband was working extra long hours due to some issues at work and involved in making arrangments to try and fix some of our financial issues. The past two days have mostly sunny and I've never been so relieved by the weather in my life.

In an effort to distract me from the weather, my Mom and I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and I found out they have some cool DC comics charms and lockets. I'm really broke right now so I can't buy them but I'm trying to think of something really cool I could make. I definitely need a Wonder Woman locket.

Wanderlust Quilts: 10 Modern Projects Inspired by Classic Art & Architecture by Amanda Leins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The quilts in this book were not quite what I expected. . . although to be honest I don't really know what I did expect. I checked this out from the library because the idea of quilts inspired by architecture intrigued me. The designs are based on a variety of features from egg and dart molding to patterns in ancient floor mosaics. My favorite quilt is the on inspired by the look of draped fabric on Greek sculptures. It manages to capture that flowy look on a flat quilt which is pretty cool and the resulting quilt has an irregular shape which looks like it would curve just right to tuck over your lap on a chilly afternoon. Because so many of these projects use either irregular shapes or fancy stitching I felt they were above my skill level and I admit I didn't really read much of the instructions so I can't speak to how well-written they may be. Overall, while I won't be making any of these anytime at all soon I still found this book to be interesting and inspiring.



Amy Butler's Style Stitches: 12 Easy Ways to 26 Wonderful Bags by Amy Butler

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


While this book has great instructions, most of the bags are just way to big for my taste. Like a 21 by 17-inch handbag big. I actually think a lot of the bags featured in this book are cute I just don't know when I'd use them. The purse I currently use is 5 by 7 and it holds everything I need for every day. I do occasionally use larger tote bags for things like grocery shopping and hauling library books so maybe I could make on to use for that.

Celebritrees: Historic & Famous Trees of the World by Margi Preus

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This a fun little book about famous trees around the world including General Sherman in Sequoia National Park and the Tree That Owns Itself. There's a short story about each tree and it's age, then a section at the back with more general information about the types of trees. There's also additional material about conservation and how to learn more about the trees presented in the book. Even though it's intended for kids I really liked this book. I like nature and the outdoors, especially trees and clouds, and the idea of a tree that owns itself is really cool.



The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful by Myquillyn Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is all about how to love the house you have. It focuses on working with the house you have and a budget you can afford instead of putting things off, waiting for the perfect house, or being frozen with indecision because you are afraid of making the wrong choice. The author covers a variety of topics such as deciding the purpose of your home, learning to take risks, and how to stop your fear of imperfection.
There is a lot of information about changes that are renter friendly as well as money saving. The overall emphasis is on just doing something. If you don't like it you can always try again, it's easy to repaint and redo a lot of projects. It has actually inspired me to get back to work on our house. We have several projects that we've been putting off for a variety of reasons, including simple indecision, which this book addresses very well.
On a final note, I should mention that I found this book in the religion section of my library, not the decorating section. Throughout the book, there is a message of learning to be content with what you have and making the most of what God has given you. Only the final chapter of the book actually focuses on the religious aspects and I felt that it added to the overall effect of the book instead of detracting. However, if you are extremely anti-religion then it's not going to be a good book for you.

On of the things this book has inspired me to is to fix our living room curtains. They actually were perfectly acceptable the way they were except for one thing, they were difficult to open. Due to being located behind our giant sectional sofa they are difficult to pull so we rarely opened them making our dark living room even darker. We thought that adding curtain rings would make things easier but I could never decide what type or color of rings would be best. Last week we had a mark down at work and a bunch of curtain rings were clearanced. So I bought a few pack and put them up and I'm very glad I did. It has made the living room much brighter. Not only do we open the curtains more but they also pull farther to the side so they let in more light than ever. We are also thinking of painting our hallway, something we haven't done in the 6 years we've lived here because I could never decide on a color.

I'm super happy with our changes so far and can't wait to get started making our house more awesome.