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| Orange fiber optic bracelet by Kokoba |
There's a matching pair of earrings, though, if you're into that:
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| Orange fiber optic earrings by Kokoba |
Stay positive, y'all. Stay fighting.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Newly Listed: Orange Fiber Optic Bracelet
One of the reasons I make jewelry is to self-soothe. I'd continue to make jewelry even if I didn't have an Etsy shop and even if no one bought it. And I felt so awful this past weekend (for a lot of reasons, not least of which was I have friends who are Iranian citizens and they have family and friends in the United States on green cards or other guest visas) that I forced myself to sit down and make something. It kept me distracted for all of ten minutes.
This is basically the end of my fiber optic stash, at least in orange. I still have some light blue left.
There's a matching pair of earrings, though, if you're into that:
Stay positive, y'all. Stay fighting.
There's a matching pair of earrings, though, if you're into that:
Stay positive, y'all. Stay fighting.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
#TBT Truncated Bohr Radius Bracelet in Amethyst and Lapis
Of course as soon as I was featured at STARtorialist's booth at AAS 229, I came down with a cold (and work) and haven't been listing new stuff in the shop. OF COURSE.
One piece I managed to get up there is a Kokoba beta release. Judging by the design this is probably from 2011? Or so?
It's more old stock that Lawyer Mom has been holding on to, at any rate.
The number featured is a truncated version of the Bohr radius. I don't usually like truncating the physical constants if I can help it, so I suspect this was a stash buster to use up the rest of some supplies (probably the lapis beads used in between digits). I always have loads of amethyst in my bead box.
(Incidentally, Steven Universe has made it a lot more exciting to just casually mention gemstones in my posts, haha. I wish I could hang out with Amethyst in real life!)
A few years ago I made an effort to branch out into other numbers/constants. Years later I'm not sure which ones I should focus on. The Bohr radius seems a little obscure—maybe I would be better off sticking with G and c? I don't know. Thoughts?
One piece I managed to get up there is a Kokoba beta release. Judging by the design this is probably from 2011? Or so?
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| Truncated Bohr Radius Bracelet by Kokoba |
The number featured is a truncated version of the Bohr radius. I don't usually like truncating the physical constants if I can help it, so I suspect this was a stash buster to use up the rest of some supplies (probably the lapis beads used in between digits). I always have loads of amethyst in my bead box.
(Incidentally, Steven Universe has made it a lot more exciting to just casually mention gemstones in my posts, haha. I wish I could hang out with Amethyst in real life!)
A few years ago I made an effort to branch out into other numbers/constants. Years later I'm not sure which ones I should focus on. The Bohr radius seems a little obscure—maybe I would be better off sticking with G and c? I don't know. Thoughts?
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
What I Read: Both Flesh and Not
Continuing on my book club theme, we decided to host a book and bookmark exchange. My partner in the swap very generously sent me two books and an adorable punny bookmark. One of those books was Both Flesh and Not, a collection of disparate David Foster Wallace essays that came out in 2012 (but that I had somehow never acquired).
At this point I recognize that it's something of a trend or stereotype to love David Foster Wallace, but I don't care. I'll sit here and love him anyway. (Or at least, love his writing.) I don't know how much of this collection would be of interest to either my blog readers or my target demo customer base; the latter, at least, would probably enjoy "Rhetoric and the Math Melodrama," Wallace's review of The Wild Numbers and Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture (which originally appeared in a 2000 issue of Science magazine). Part of my love for Wallace is that we both occupy the Venn diagram overlap of "formal creative writing" studies and "formal philosophy" studies; the other part of my love for Wallace is his love for and interest in mathematics, a field I'd like to understand much more than I currently do. It's that love and interest that forms the background his critique of the aforementioned "math melodrama" novels.
Other subjects include Roger Federer, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 2007's Best American Essays, thoughts on word usage, Wittgenstein's Mistress, and more.
Readers who are new to Wallace might do better with This is Water, his Kenyon College commencement address, which by virtue of being a spoken/presented piece rather than a written one, makes the reading a little easier. But if you like syntactically and conceptually dense writing, by all means jump in with an essay collection (A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Consider the Lobster, Both Flesh and Not) or a novel (The Broom of the System, Infinite Jest). I admit to not liking his short stories (Girl With the Curious Hair, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men) as much, but I'm not much of a short story fan to begin with.
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| Image courtesy Little, Brown and Company |
At this point I recognize that it's something of a trend or stereotype to love David Foster Wallace, but I don't care. I'll sit here and love him anyway. (Or at least, love his writing.) I don't know how much of this collection would be of interest to either my blog readers or my target demo customer base; the latter, at least, would probably enjoy "Rhetoric and the Math Melodrama," Wallace's review of The Wild Numbers and Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture (which originally appeared in a 2000 issue of Science magazine). Part of my love for Wallace is that we both occupy the Venn diagram overlap of "formal creative writing" studies and "formal philosophy" studies; the other part of my love for Wallace is his love for and interest in mathematics, a field I'd like to understand much more than I currently do. It's that love and interest that forms the background his critique of the aforementioned "math melodrama" novels.
Other subjects include Roger Federer, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 2007's Best American Essays, thoughts on word usage, Wittgenstein's Mistress, and more.
Readers who are new to Wallace might do better with This is Water, his Kenyon College commencement address, which by virtue of being a spoken/presented piece rather than a written one, makes the reading a little easier. But if you like syntactically and conceptually dense writing, by all means jump in with an essay collection (A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Consider the Lobster, Both Flesh and Not) or a novel (The Broom of the System, Infinite Jest). I admit to not liking his short stories (Girl With the Curious Hair, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men) as much, but I'm not much of a short story fan to begin with.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Newly Listed: DNA Chainmaille Earrings
I am team No Piercings, which means that 90% of the time I completely neglect making earrings, and then 10% of the time I remember that other people have holes in their ears and binge-make a whole bunch. (Of earrings, not ears.) Here are the goodies from my latest binge: chainmaille DNA earrings.
I use two different weaves that resemble DNA's double helix spiral: This is Not Food and Inverted Spiral. (I also want to be very clear: these weaves are not my creation!) These earrings are an example of This is Not Food.
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| Chainmaille DNA earrings by Kokoba |
I use two different weaves that resemble DNA's double helix spiral: This is Not Food and Inverted Spiral. (I also want to be very clear: these weaves are not my creation!) These earrings are an example of This is Not Food.
The jump rings and the ear wire are both base metal (an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc). I'm not comfortable enough with maille to pull out the big precious metal guns, but one day! However, these and all of my earrings can be set on sterling silver ear wire for those of you with sensitive skin or nickel allergies.
Friday, January 20, 2017
Friday 5: Questions to Make Your Hands Clammy
Apropos as fuck for our fishy-ass new commander-in-chief.
Who’s been a ray of sunshine lately?
My English students. In Cure, Marchant cites a study about how spending just an hour with kids every week can keep the elderly from slipping into the worst pits of old age: depression, dementia, aches and pains, etc. Even though it involves waking up early on a Sunday, the three hours I spend with my students does a lot to affect my mood. They don't always want to study, but they're always happy to see me and having the time to play and chat with them afterwards makes it all worth it. The weeks where I don't have any tutoring appointments are the weeks I end up feeling the crappiest.
Hah, crappy!
When do you next expect to be stuffed to the gills?
Tonight's pizza night, so in a few hours?
Among people you know, who can really tell a whale of a tale?
Back when I was a cave tour guide, one of my coworkers was the most ridiculous compulsive liar ever. It took me a little while to catch on—I'm naive—but things just spiraled out of control. It wasn't anything related to our job, so it didn't really matter, but he was just so OTT.
What’s something you’ve been herring good things about?
One of my friends just recommended The OA, so JV and I will probably start watching that soon.
Which of the S.S. Minnow‘s passengers or crew do you think you’d get along best with?
I don't know. I haven't seen a single episode of Gilligan's Island. Weirdly enough, JV and I only just got around to watching the MST3K episode The Space Children, featuring the professor as a drunk child beater! (It also had Uncle Fester as a rocket scientist.)
Who’s been a ray of sunshine lately?
My English students. In Cure, Marchant cites a study about how spending just an hour with kids every week can keep the elderly from slipping into the worst pits of old age: depression, dementia, aches and pains, etc. Even though it involves waking up early on a Sunday, the three hours I spend with my students does a lot to affect my mood. They don't always want to study, but they're always happy to see me and having the time to play and chat with them afterwards makes it all worth it. The weeks where I don't have any tutoring appointments are the weeks I end up feeling the crappiest.
Hah, crappy!
 |
| Arkansas Game and Fish Commission |
When do you next expect to be stuffed to the gills?
Tonight's pizza night, so in a few hours?
Among people you know, who can really tell a whale of a tale?
Back when I was a cave tour guide, one of my coworkers was the most ridiculous compulsive liar ever. It took me a little while to catch on—I'm naive—but things just spiraled out of control. It wasn't anything related to our job, so it didn't really matter, but he was just so OTT.
What’s something you’ve been herring good things about?
One of my friends just recommended The OA, so JV and I will probably start watching that soon.
Which of the S.S. Minnow‘s passengers or crew do you think you’d get along best with?
I don't know. I haven't seen a single episode of Gilligan's Island. Weirdly enough, JV and I only just got around to watching the MST3K episode The Space Children, featuring the professor as a drunk child beater! (It also had Uncle Fester as a rocket scientist.)
Thursday, January 19, 2017
TBT: Purple and Yellow Fiber Optic Earrings
The goodie bags I picked up on my trip to the US in October seem like they're bottomless! But I think we're approaching the end. At least, the end of pieces I don't want to cannibalize for something better. Eight? Nine? years later and I still like these fiber optic earrings enough to keep them as is.
Fun fact: purple and gold are actually my high school colors, but I didn't make these out of a fit of ~~be true to your school~~. I just think they look nice together!
I think I'll be back in the US in August; I'm wondering if I should pick up as many fiber optic beads as I can get my hands on. It's probably a dated look for most people (the stock these beads came from dated back to the 80s or maybe early 90s), but I think there's potential for a nerdy niche market. Maybe?
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| Purple and yellow fiber optic earrings from Kokoba |
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| Purple and yellow fiber optic earrings |
I think I'll be back in the US in August; I'm wondering if I should pick up as many fiber optic beads as I can get my hands on. It's probably a dated look for most people (the stock these beads came from dated back to the 80s or maybe early 90s), but I think there's potential for a nerdy niche market. Maybe?
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
What I Read: The Road to Mecca
My book club is still going strong! We closed out 2016 with the religious travel memoir The Road to Mecca, Muhammad Asad's account of his travels and journalism within the Middle East and his eventual conversion to Islam.
In a world with ISIS and terror and xenophobia, it's more important than ever for all of us—elected officials, private citizens, government clerks who can change lives just by pushing paper—to remain curious and compassionate about the world around us. Books help us do just that. If your only exposure to a culture (or a religion, etc.) is its extremes, it's difficult to remember that there are nuances. Memoirs like The Road to Mecca highlight this nuance and paint a more detailed picture of mainstream Islam than what most Americans otherwise have access to.
Also, the writing is gorgeous.
The good news is that it's available for free (as in freedom and as in beer) online at Muhammad-Asad.com, along with other works by Asad (including his English translation of the Koran).
Asad is not without criticism, from within and without the Muslim community. You can read a little about that from Martin Kramer. But you don't develop a nuanced and intuitive understanding of a culture without reading a variety of opinions and experiences; and again, the writing is gorgeous.
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| Image courtesy Fons Vitae |
In a world with ISIS and terror and xenophobia, it's more important than ever for all of us—elected officials, private citizens, government clerks who can change lives just by pushing paper—to remain curious and compassionate about the world around us. Books help us do just that. If your only exposure to a culture (or a religion, etc.) is its extremes, it's difficult to remember that there are nuances. Memoirs like The Road to Mecca highlight this nuance and paint a more detailed picture of mainstream Islam than what most Americans otherwise have access to.
Also, the writing is gorgeous.
The good news is that it's available for free (as in freedom and as in beer) online at Muhammad-Asad.com, along with other works by Asad (including his English translation of the Koran).
Asad is not without criticism, from within and without the Muslim community. You can read a little about that from Martin Kramer. But you don't develop a nuanced and intuitive understanding of a culture without reading a variety of opinions and experiences; and again, the writing is gorgeous.
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