Travel Announcement

I'm on vacation! I'll be bouncing around the US to visit friends, attend a wedding, and (belatedly) celebrate a PhD! I have some posts scheduled to go up in my absence, but I won't really be "here."

Image courtesy Art.Science.Gallery.

Most pertinent for this blog, I'll be in Austin for a few days, and hopefully I can convince my hosts to visit the Art.Science.Gallery with me. I've been staring longingly at it from a distance for a while now; I'd love to see it up close and in person! But will I make it? Stay tuned!

Newly Relisted: Black and Red Fibonacci Necklace

This is a Kokoba alpha release that I've always been pretty happy with. All credit for this design idea goes to my longtime Internet buddy (and occasional real-life hang-out buddy) Melissa. I was still thinking in series on strands when she suggested this idea with dangles instead.

Fibonacci statement necklace by Kokoba

This is one of the first ones I made after she tossed that idea out on a blog post or in a chat, and I still love it. A lot. Looking at it now, it also has a very Harley Quinn vibe to it (more like The Animated Series Harley Quinn than Suicide Squad, of course) and that was definitely unintentional when I made it but now I can't unsee it? All the more reason to love it! It's been in Etsy limbo for a while because I didn't like the photos I had originally taken; these aren't prefect but they're a step in the right direction, at least!

Chain and clasp detail

That chain looks large, maybe even oversized, but it's aluminum, so it has virtually no weight to it. The lobster claw and jump rings are a zinc/nickel/copper alloy, so they have a little heft to them, but the whole thing is pretty lightweight and comfortable.

This is a longer piece. Each section of chain is 10 inches long, and the focal point is probably another 2 inches, so it it hangs like a longer piece. Just the kind of thing to layer over a t-shirt or, though it pains me to say it, a bulky sweater? (#WinterIsComing)

Friday 5: Shape of Things to Come

What shape is your mood today?

Swings and roundabouts. Is that a shape? The replacement for my cracked smartphone screen is in sooner than I expected and I have work to help me pay for it, so that's good. But our bed broke and there's no way getting a new one is worth it, so that's not so good. But our mattress is in fine shape, as are the wooden slats it was resting on, and have "pillow tops" as well (I think in Swedish they're the parts that people call mattresses), so we can just live without a bed frame, I guess?

Back when I was a wee thing and my bed was upgraded in order to give my brother a "big kid" bed, I got to sleep on a mattress on the floor for a few days and I thought it was way better than sleeping on a mattress on a proper bed. The novelty hasn't worn off entirely, so I could be in much worse mood about it than I am. It just sucks that we lose a bit of under-the-bed storage, but oh well.

What snack comes in a fun shape?

I guess those cone-shaped chips you can put on your fingers. Bugles? Yeah, Bugles.

Image courtesy Glane23

Someone’s building your dream house, but it has to be in the shape of a letter of the alphabet.  Which letter do you choose?

For architectural purposes, something like H or I seems the smartest. I'm not vain enough to have my house be in the shape of my initials, definitely (and K seems like not a great shape for a house). C might be nice: you'd a mostly-enclose courtyard that you could still enter and exit easily.


What’s a great song with a shape in its title or lyrics?

"Circle":

"Square":

Don't judge me. Only Gunde can judge me.

And I guess I'm stretching with this one, but "Pentagram":

What’s something in your line of sight that can reasonably be called blob-shaped?

I have a couple burnt-down candles on the windowsill.

Talky Tuesday: Summer Solstice on the Lake

One of Teacher Dad's coworkers (from back when he was Engineer Dad, not Teacher Dad) had hunting cabin out in the mountains, which he alternated summering at and renting out to people to summer at. Every couple of years we drove up to New England and spent a week in the mountains, right up until Teacher Dad bought Disney timeshares. I wish he would have skipped the timeshares and just kept taking us to the lake, but oh well.

Not "my" lake, but close enough. // Image courtesy earl53 on MorgueFile

For the summer solstice this year, a friend of mine invited me to join a picnic at a lake. That's the thing about Stockholm: there's so much nature and water right within the city limits, or just outside the city limits. I've been remiss about taking advantage of that.

We grabbed a bus from city center, and after a surprisingly short ride (and, to be fair, a longer-than-expected walk), I could have cried, y'all. For a second I was back in the mountains on family trips before the onset of puberty and stress that was high school. A throwback to a more innocent time: lots of jigsaw puzzles and games of Clue (Lawyer Mom taught us how to play Clue incorrectly, and I didn't learn how to actually play until I was in 20s, but we still had fun) and taking bizarre artiste-y Dutch-angled photos in my Crayola camera.

I realize they're not actually much alike—where we vacationed in the US is much more mountainous than most of Sweden—but somehow my brain connected the two.

We had a guest during our lunch by the lake. :)

I had been advised to bring a bathing suit, and I was glad I did. I hadn't been for a proper swim in years, so I gladly jumped in and went for a paddle. If I hadn't been on other people's time table, I would have definitely done some laps back and forth across the short length. The heated pool in our basement is great in the winter, but nothing beats swimming in proper bodies of water when it's summer.

But a quick dip is better than no dip at all! We had sandwiches and fruits and things, and set up a little fire by the edge of the lake (just because) and sang and talked about our goals for the rest of the year. Someone in the area was playing a flute or panpipe or something, so once in a while we heard some plaintive music drift over on the breeze.

Life goals: be able to rent a cabin out in the archipelago for a week during the summer. I don't understand the national obsession with taking off right when Sweden hits, like, peak gorgeousness, but there you have it. July rolls around and people jetset off to the Mediterranean or to Spain or something. (And I guess the rest of Europe comes up here? Maybe that's why Swedes all get out!)

It was a lovely time and I hope I'm invited to participate again next year. :)

Friday 5: Don't Go There

Where were you forbidden (or too frightened) to go when you were growing up, and why?

There was nothing I was ever expressly forbidden from going, but I was always obsessed with a local paper mill that had stood abandoned my entire life. I can't find a photo to share here, even though it's prime urban exploration fodder, so I'll have to make do with photos of a sister plant across the river in New Jersey.


What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve done in the past couple of years?

I totally bought a reduced fare SL ticket when I wasn't eligible for it! More than once!

Under what circumstances have you gone into a place you knew you weren’t supposed to enter?

I can't think of any, actually?


Which aisle in your supermarket do you just about never go down?

The pet food aisle. The baby food aisle. The canned-fruits-for-baking aisle.

Here's one for the "little differences" department: canned fruits and vegetables were pretty normal for me growing up in the US. A couple of Green Giant cans of vegetables were always a side for dinner (unless our own vegetable garden was in season) and the little Del Monte tins of diced pears and peaches were a common packed lunch accessory. I didn't realize that frozen vegetables were a thing until, well, probably older than I should have been. But in Sweden, the canned fruits live in exile with pie crusts and chocolate chips, and I don't think canned vegetables even exist?


Not counting traffic situations, when did you last willfully disobey something you read on a sign?

Like property demarcations, signs are something I'm pretty good at obeying signs. Apologies to the Five Man Electrical Band.

Newly Relisted: Yellow Flower Speed of Light Physics Sciart Bracelet

We are in the middle of summer and I am JUST. LOVING. IT. I'm a night owl but also a sun worshiper. (Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.) I should absolutely write up about how I spent summer solstice, but that's another post. Today I want to share this cheerful summertime bracelet with you:

Speed of Light Bracelet by Kokoba

These are some old, old beads from what could easily be ten years ago, now? Have I really been at this for that long? Yikes! I'm pretty sure I gutted a Kokoba alpha release for this one, and I like how it turned out.

I'm always disappointed when a memory wire bracelet turns out on the short side—it's like, "Well, I should just make it a regular bracelet with a clasp, then!" And I like the multistrand look of chunkier memory wire bracelets that make it through multiple wraps. This one passes the test!

The yellow beads spell out the digits of c (in meters per second), while the floral beads act as spacers between each digit.

Bracelet available for sale here! You can also pick up other STEM-inspired bracelets or browse other physics-related wares.

Friday 5: Questions Created Very Quickly Late Friday Morning

Image from NinoAndonis on Morguefile.com

What are you reading?

I'm reading Karen Memory for an upcoming feminist science fiction book club meeting, as I mentioned earlier. Other, not-as-high-priority reading includes:

• The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, a graphic novel (possibly adapted web comic?) that recounts the fictional adventures of Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage in a pocket steampunk universe
• Kris, my regular allotment of Swedish reading.
• The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide for my own local critique group
• The Origins of Totalitarianism, because it's relevant
• The Copyeditor's Handbook for my own edification
• Foxlowe, which I originally heard about via a book blogger I found via ArmchairBEA a couple years ago (speaking of ArmchairBEA...)

What are you listening to?

During my #scicomm day job, I typically listen to classical. I favor the Romantics and have listened through all of Beethoven's symphonies a bunch of times by now, but I hop around the musical timeline a lot: Bach, Mozart, Copland, Alice Mary Smith . . .

When I'm working on jewelry or playing Diablo III, I like to get in my podcast listening: Sawbones, The Adventure Zone, The History of the English Language, Adam Ruins Everything, Dirt Nap, and Red Skirts are all good.

My running playlist is probably utterly unremarkable and predictable. The more standout selections are from the now-defunct Music Alliance Pact, a monthly round-up of international indie music. My playlist also tilts a little heavily towards Korean music, specifically artists discussed on the Indieful ROK blog (Say Sue Me) or that I learned about while I lived there (Drunken Tiger/MFBTY/Tiger JK).

Anything amusing or strange happen to you recently?

Working with children is always amusing, though in small and unremarkable ways. It's a good counterbalance to the almost-always private, solitary work that is copyediting. I don't miss the stress of a classroom and the management that entails, but working with kids in small groups or one-on-one is the dream. Of course, working with adults has own its own set of rewards as well. But adults don't have the same sideways perspective on things that lead to "kids say the darndest things" aphorisms or puns.

What’s cookin’?

So much instant chicken soup. Guess who caught a cold during peak summer season. :(

What was your contribution to your most recent potluck?

I tried for stewed tomatoes but they didn't turn out. (Protip: start making food a little earlier than 5 minutes before you're due to eat.) (Other protip: learn to actually cook.)

My last successful contribution was a vegetarian version of turos csusza. It went over okay, but I think I skimped a bit on the roasted onion.