I've been lamenting my absence from this blog, considering it's my only official persona online anymore (all of the others being defunct or abandoned). Since I know people who blog every day, and I have been reading the 120-year-old diaries of a man who wrote nearly every single day of his life for 51 years in the 19th century, I've felt a creeping inspiration.
So. I've decided to split the difference between blogging every day and my inevitable laziness and promise to post three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I can't promise that they'll be much good at that rate, considering how hectic my life is now, but they will never be a one word post. I'll give you something good, whether it's a story link, a video, a picture, or an actual honest-to-God blog post. There will be many times this semester when sparse posts will take every ounce of my being to post due to how much of my time is spent doing grad work (on the aforementioned diaries alone, I'm spending about 22 hours - that's reading and then doing a written exploration - on each diary year
every week). But it's my promise, more to myself than to anyone who's reading this (you're more than welcome to come along, however).
To make good on my promise and make this more than just an update post, I thought I'd update you all on how
#59 is going.
________
I decided to try whittling and carving as a way to pass my time in the apartment (where I am 95-100% of the day) that wasn't video game related. From what I knew of the hobby, I really didn't need much, so a small investment would get me pretty far. Once I developed some skill, I could decide whether I wanted to get deeper into the hobby or go ahead and do my mastery project (I'll explain in a minute) and call it done.
I made several mistakes when I decided my approach to #59. The first was my underestimation of the hobby itself. Whittling and carving is pretty intense. Background noise while working is okay, but it requires concentration and time. Almost every project that I could do that appeals to my standards for carving takes days, weeks, or even months to complete.
My second mistake was honestly thinking whittling and carving were the same thing. They most certainly are not. Carving has a refined connotation that whittling does not have, due to the methods that are used to achieve the final product. Whittling is about controlling your knife but not worrying about the rough edges. Whittled pieces look blocky and have a lot of flat planes on them. That comes from mainly using one kind of straight-bladed knife throughout the entire project.
Carving, however, is a different beast. Carving is all about control, smoothness, continuity, seamlessness, and presentation. Carving tools are designed to make smooth cuts, or at the very least mask where you made subpar ones. In general (from my brief, mind-boggling look at the books I have), a whittled project is more likely to be painted, while a carved project is more likely to be stained. Whittling is more folksy; carving more professional. Whittling naturally has a whimsical and unrefined feel; carving is dramatic and stately. These are wide generalizations, but it's what I've been able to skim from the top of such deep and ancient skills.
Imagine my surprise when I started ordering whittling and carving supplies and resources only to find out from the books coming in that I didn't buy the right thing. So I splurged when I shouldn't have and experimented with tools themselves without the book telling me what to do. I found out very quickly why most pieces, whether they start out more as whittling or carving, end up using both. The good woodworker, a voice in the back of my brain told me, would be able to master both.
My third mistake came from my location. I live in an apartment, and noise travels quickly (I got six noise complaints right after I got the newest Coheed album). Woodworking, at its more advanced levels, refuses to be quiet: mallets start coming into play, as well as drills, sanders, saws, etc. Spacewise and soundwise, this hobby can quickly become incompatible with the fruits of "budget-living." I'm far from the mechanical bit, and I'm still a bit away from the mallets (if only because I can't afford one and the carving tools that come with it). It's the spatial part with which I'm having a fit. My roommate and I barely have enough time to clean or enough room to walk as it is. Building a workstation of the type suggested by virtually every magazine and book I have looked at is simply impossible (unless I put stuff out on the balcony in the cold weather).
My fourth mistake, and possibly the one that will cost me the most time, was overestimating my ability to work on my mastery project. My #59 Mastery, at least on the whittling side, was going to be a chess set. I don't know what it will be on the carving side, or what my whittling mastery project would be if I carved chess pieces, but I have this vague wonderful idea of a detailed chess set with oversized pieces that would become a family keepsake.
I'm currently working on a turtle. It was a template with a plaster model. When it came, it basically said, "Go at it and have fun." I've spent three hours on said turtle in total, and it's coming out of the wood. But I have absolutely no creative experience in the realms of drawing, painting, or sculpture. There is a learning curve that I did not foresee, whether because of my own overconfidence, my lack of knowledge, or both, and I have turned what I thought would be a year-long hobby into a multi-year multi-stage possible obsession, in which I apprentice myself vicariously to the men and women who write books on carving and post on woodcarving forums. This is all to say, my mastery project, the project that, when completed, will allow me to cross #59 off of the list, is a multi-year project from where I stand today. It's all very daunting to say the least.
Feeling discouraged, I decided to just go to town on a block and see what came out of it. I had no idea what I was doing or what it was going to be. I had an inkling that a boat would be kind of neat, so I began whittling it more and more into the basic shape. I realized that my tools were wrong for carving out the curved middle of the project, so I had to order even more tools. When I finally got them in and was able to really dig in, I was able to make in about two nights a little boat. Misshapen, yes. Crude as well. The inside bottom of the boat is grooved and rough, while the outside is sanded and a little pock-marked. The bow and stern are not symmetrical. I slashed my hand four times and stabbed my thumb and middle finger twice in the process. Ugly as the whole process was, I still fell in love with my boat.
The inside of the boat. The piece of wood on the left is about two inches longer than the single piece from which the boat was created.
The underside of the boat. All of the visible shavings are from hollowing out the inside.
We didn't have any bandaids Paper towels and packing tape was the next best thing. The bandaid situation has been taken care of with a package of awesome Transformers band aids.
My confidence having been restored, I have decided to soldier on. Once I finish that damn turtle, I might feel invincible. It's too late to turn back now, anyway.
Any of you get into a hobby that got over your head in about two seconds?
After a plea for a makeover and a wave from MundaneJane, Monda over at NoTelling took pity on me and made my blog look amazing. I cannot thank her enough for working her magic.
I told myself that if my blog didn't look like it had been beaten with ugly sticks, stones, bricks, etc., that I would write more often. It looks like I have no excuse now, because the blog redesign looks absolutely stunning.
I am formally leaving VDCC as a headstone, a marker of a format that is dead but a passion that is not. Whatever cultural criticism I have, whenever I find my voice in the coil, it will go here. I still have my Tumblr account, but its future is unknown. I am not interesting enough to have multiple blogs and zero redundancy, so it's back to training wheels with one blog, at least for a while.
In other words, I'm back!
Alright. I've been alluding to some major goings-on. I waited because I didn't want to say something and not have proof, but gone are those days. Here's the news, almost verbatim from where I broke the news earlier this week.
I know a lot of you remember that I took Donna's Core IV media criticism class. Well, I kept up my site (now at vdcc.net) and applied for a job at a site called ObsessedwithFilm.com. The ad said it paid, but that turns out to be in "exp" rather than "gil" (sorry).
Anyway, the guy read my review of WALL-E, and immediately offered me the job.
Well, two weeks after that, my first review is finally up on the site. I'd appreciate all of the comments you guys can muster. I hope to review a more serious/less a "waste of my money that won't be reimbursed" movie next time, for a but at least this time around I hope everyone can at least be supportive that I've made it to the equivalent of benchwarming in the minor leagues. Yay!
Here's the review: Mamma Mia!
And for other reviews with considerably more feeling, including The Dark Knight, WALL-E, Civilization Revolution, and more, go to my site at VDCC.net. I'm trying to grow it into something worthwhile, and would appreciate all of your help. And for those of you who don't use RSS, email subscriptions are available too. :)
Sorry if this seems like a shameless advertisement, but this is the best thing that's happened all summer (the review on OWF) accompanied with the most revived thing I've poured my energy into this summer (vdcc.net). Even though the website who published is going through some rough transitions and even rougher reviews, it still feels like an accomplishment I should share.
Well, there you have it. My good news.
And yes, I'm excited.
Life is topsy turvy at the moment. Everything's up and down, and sometimes at the same time. My job has been at a questionable point for quite a while, but a meeting helped to reset the feelings that had grown hard with time. Also, I got to go through a magazine to pick out things to order for two days straight. I hadn't had so much fun in months. I swear to God I should have been an accountant.
Otherwise, I don't get a stimulus check because my mother claimed me on her taxes, yet money seems to still be in good supply this summer despite my depending on that check - which is more than many can say. The VDCC Top 30 countdown is going well, but looking forward to each entry seems to make my weeks go by faster. People, it's mid-July. Where the hell did the time go?
I'm going to have some big news coming up (though I'm going to wait until it's definitely official before I tell you) that I'm very excited about, but I'm also apprehensive - as I am with all new steps. But I have hopes that this step could ultimately help to curb the impending doom I so carefully outlined before. Like one of my friends says when quoting The Hold Steady, I need to stay positive.
Oh yeah, and the last best/worst thing.
Coheed and Cambria, my favorite band with my number one favorite lead singer and future artistic collaborator (I almost said "husband", but I didn't want to seem too hopeful), Claudio Sanchez, are doing the most amazing epic music spectacle to grace the prog-rock stage in many moons. They are going to play four nights, and each night they are going to play every song from their albums.
The catch?
Those four concerts are in New York and Los Angeles. How disappointing. My mom gave me a friendly/playfull nudge saying that maybe I could afford to do a Fun Fare if I plan enough in advance, but I doubt that it could happen. Oh, but if it could, though. How often does this happen? Honestly? Jeebus.
Anyway, I've got three reviews coming up soon for VDCC. I don't know when I'm going to finish the Washington Journals, but I promise I'll do it soon. I've got some free time coming up this weekend that, while I'm not playing Civilization Revolution, I will work on.
I'm going to stay away from the internet for a couple of weeks or so, and I'm going into radio silence. You probably won't hear from me at all for at least a little while. I promise I'll come back, and I will finish the Top 30 project at adamanthenes.wordpress.com while I'm on this hiatus. But for now, this is goodbye.
Posted by
Unknown
1:56 AM
Hey everyone. Yes, I'm still sticking to my original plan. But I had some things come up this last week and weekend that prevented me from working on an assortment of things I had previously planned.
First of all, I totally didn't realize Friday had passed by until it had, and then it was a bit late for me to keep up with my promise for VDCC. But I stayed up late just so I could catch up on posting for it. I also posted a review of WALL-E. You should check it out!
As for finishing the Washington Journals, I can explain that as well. I put off finishing the last day so I could have something to do at work this last week. I was planning on setting aside a few minutes one day to finish the last post, then give myself some recoup time for the grand finale. Well, I actually had a lot to do at work this last week (who knew, honestly?), so I didn't have a spare moment to do it. When I wasn't at work, I was on the road. When I wasn't doing either of those, I was in bed. Three times this last week I went to bed before 9:00.
So I had set aside time this weekend to finish that last damnable entry when I had an accident. No, not in a car. But I took a bit of a spill in the house. I tripped over a poster tube (my foot got caught in an open end of the tube and it stood up with my foot in it), and landed knees first. My left knee hit a vent, and my right knee landed on a marble. Of course, most of my weight was on my right knee. The thing was, I was trying to find my keys so I could go meet a friend to see WALL-E, and the tickets had already been bought or I would have stayed home. My knee was three times the size it was supposed to be, and I couldn't bend it or put weight on it. That led to some interesting experiences climbing up stairs at The Rave, not to mention driving.
This morning I still couldn't put weight on it while it was bent, but now I have a full range of motion and can put weight on it to get up out of a chair and such... but it still hurts.
So, in short, those are my reasons for not posting recently, and I'm sorry for not keeping up word for word with my resolutions. However, I'm proud to report that I haven't had fast food or a coke since I made my promise to stay away from both, and I've lost over 10 pounds as a result.
But yeah... I'll get on that last entry. Promise!
P.S. I bought the case and the power supply for my new computer, for less than I was originally planning. All I need now is the motherboard and the RAM before I can start building (I'm cannibalizing my other computer to save money). I've made some changes to the last list to save a bunch of money, and I think everything will still work. It'll give me more time to upgrade the parts instead of putting everything on hold this summer just to build a computer for games. It's the smarter way, I think.
Just a quick moment of your time and a break from the Washington Journal series.
As most of you know, I have another blog that I started for a class my sophomore year called Voice from the Depths of the Cultural Coil. It hasn't seen a lot of action lately (for that, I'm deeply regretful - once you fall out of practice, it's hard to get back in). As evidenced by my newest review of the new Indiana Jones movie, I'm rusty.
However, I saw something recently that made me rather upset, too. The story is over at the Voice, but I'll repost it here.
Who in the world uses Yahoo? They apparently have very questionable tastes.
Yahoo! recently released a user-rated top 30 animated film list - of all time. I’ve never seen such a travesty of a list. I realize that the chaos of a million 12-year-olds does not off-set the more seasoned animated film watchers, but Lawd have mercy this list needs revamping.
That’s why I’m going to start a 16 week series of a revised top 30 countdown. Why not? I’ve got the time now. I’ll do my best to update it every Thursday. The first entry will have three films, and the last will have only one - the number one. Oh, and you don’t have to look at that list if you don’t want to - I’ll recap that list as I go along.
Hope to see you all around!
Well, there you have it. I've got sixteen weeks to churn out a 30 movie list. I'm going to go see some of the new movies that are out just so I can put them in if need be, so this is going to be an up-to-date list as well.
Now back to the Washington Journals series. Thanks for your time!
I have buttons!
You can click a button on the sidebar to read either the Italy journals I wrote last summer or "Mr. Simmons Goes to Washington." They all come up in reverse, so you have to scroll down to start from the beginning. Hopefully Blogger will fix that one day. For now, it is as it is and that is that.
Let me know if something doesn't work or if you have suggestions. Originally, the Italy button had special effects and the Mr. Simmons one was animated, but they didn't load right (honestly, they look better the way they are now).
Huzzah!
Posted by
Unknown
12:17 PM
Sorry that I've been gone so long, everyone. I know you were eagerly awaiting my return. I just… know these things.
So there are going to be some major changes coming up, including, but not limited to, more entries. I'm going to try and make this blog an actual blog instead of a waystation that I pass through sometimes on my way to other things.
Oh, and stay tuned for my summer trip blog this year. It won't be like Italy, really, but it will be very interesting for my traveling companions and me.
I suggest all those of you who would like to publish work online go to Creative Commons and get yourself a free copyright license. It'll help you if you don't want all of your work distributed all willy-nilly by letting people know how they're allowed to use your work. I'm planning on posting some serial short stories on here this summer, so I thought I'd go ahead and "relicense" my site.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
I played around with the new options available at draft.blogger.com, and have come up with a new (if not a bit messy) sidebar. It's not perfect, but hopefully, once Blogger gets its act together a bit more, options will become available.
I promise I'll start posting more after I get my 20-page paper done for my history seminar class, which is due next Wednesday. Bear with me for another week, and you'll see the sunshine that radiates from my little corner of the interwebs once again.
So which is it, AF readers?
or
As a formal poll (and a symbol of my democratic tendencies), I'll let you all vote in the comment section. Whichever one wins out, I will place in a widget on the right hand side. Deal? Deal.
Thanks goes to Dependable Renegade for the site.
Just thought I'd announce the addition on the sidebar. One of my friends got me interested in Last.FM again, so I thought I'd expose myself to the potential embarassment of revealing my music tastes.
For those who are native, hope you've enjoyed the three day weekend (yay snow in March!). For those of you who aren't, sucks that you didn't have snow.
My other blog, Voice from the Depths of the Cultural Coil, has been defunct for a few months now (the last review is The Golden Compass). However, I'm not willing to let it die. I've implemented a new idea for the site. I'm going to repost that here, and we'll see what comes of it.
This review blog has gotten really impersonal (not to mention really behind), so I’m going to introduce a new way to interact with me at VDCC. Here’s what I propose to you, reader.
1. Send an email to adamant.fire@gmail.com.
2. Type “Review Request” in the subject line.
3. Tell me your name (nickname, username, or otherwise - whichever you want to be placed on the site when I credit you for the request).
4. Tell me what you want to see reviewed.
Media I will review:
- Video Games
- Movies
- Currently in Theater
- Currently on DVD
- Currently online (short films)
- Any genre besides pornography.
- If you would like me to review a movie you have made, contact me as well.
- Books, Novellas, and Short Stories
- No “age limit.” Old or new books are fine with me.
- If you would like me to review a book, novella, or short story you have written, contact me as well.
- TV Shows
- Has to be on a channel I have.
- Comics
- Includes manga, comic books, and graphic novels.
- Other
As time goes on, this will become more specific, but I’m not looking to put in a lot of guidelines if it’s not even going to work. I’m sure that I’ll be able to turn out a review a week, but I can’t promise to always keep to that (though I’m sure I’ll be able to do more on some weeks as well). If multiple people request the same thing, that will definitely increase priority. Also, money is an issue. However, if this blog becomes really active, I might consider spending more to keep it going.
Let the requesting begin!
Oh, and in other news that still links in with the same news, I have a new email address for both this blog and VDCC - adamant.fire@gmail.com. Email questions and comments here. Thanks!
