While looking for regency patterns yesterday I found a link to a cool site that had articles on historical construction and “Masterclasses” etc. It’s a pay site so I thought I’d take more of a look around and ask for opinions before signing up.

But now I’ve lost it! Oops. Anyone have any idea what I’m talking about? And if it’s worth the $10/month?

OK, I’m planning too much for D*Con anyway, but I had an idea I thought would be fun.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is the new book which contains the entirety of Pride and Prejudice, but also adds in a whole subplot in which zombies are overrunning England while the story is going on.

http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347

So my thought is this: Who wants to make Regency dresses and then destroy them and be Jane Austen zombies? ^_^ They’d go together quickly, and we’d be able to use cheap fabric and then destroy it. ^_^

Who is with me?

It premiered last night on HBO. I was really looking forward to it. The books are fun fluff, and Jill Scott is amazing. It was a good time, but I have one problem: Precious Ramotswe did not have sex with the philandering husband!

I’m so upset! That was my favorite part of the first book. A woman hires Precious to find out if her husband is faithful and to bring back proof. So Precious goes to a bar he frequents, and then goes home with him. They have a grand old time, have sex, and then she takes a picture of them cuddling. Then she gives the picture to the wife as the requested proof that her husband was unfaithful. Woman flips out. It was great.

In this version, she’s kind of shy and awkward about it, and she takes the picture of them together on the couch, then chastely sends him home unsatisfied. I’m v. sad about that. I miss the sexual part of Mma Ramotswe. I liked that about her. Now she’s all chaste and moral. I’m sad.

The casting director’s view of life is this: All bad men are handsome; all good men are plain and extremely uncommon. All women are gorgeous, whether good or bad. (Seriously, it’s like a whole cast of supermodels with 3 average-looking guys thrown in.)

Which brings us to Mma Makutsi, who is awesome, if a total bitch. But it’s a little silly that she maintains her pretty-girl hate and angst about being homely when the actress genuinely looks like a fashion model in funny glasses. But I like her, so it’s OK.

Hahaha, damn I love Kuroshitsuji. I really do.

I’m glad the manga is still running. It’s much easier to enjoy an ending when you don’t have to be too sad about a title being over entirely.

I’m seriously considering stopping at Ricky’s and getting a short wig today. With my ringlet weave stuck tothe back of it, that might work OK.

Everything is looking like ass, and I can’t find my flat iron with the temperature control. (I can’t use my real flatiron on a wig. It’s ceramic and gets really, really hot. Even with socks over the plates I don’t think it would work.)

I wish I didn’t have to wear a wig at all. This one just looks so blech

I have just manifest 60-freaking-yards of pleated ruffles. Blech.

And now I’m not even sure I like the effect anymore. Something is off. I think it requires sequins or something. The pleated ruffles are chiffon, and the deep, matte texture seems kind of messy next to the satin. It sucks the light in and doesn’t let it out. I think that was a mistake. The outfit should have varied textures, but it needs to be cohesive. I think I need to put something on there that will move the light back where it goes.

If you don’t understand the difference between photo costumes and moving costumes, check out video of drag queens, or musicals. A sequin in place is boring, flat, kind of tacky. Sequins in motion make you look like every motion is Fosse. That’s one of the reasons ice skaters wear so many — the male ice skaters say sparkles on your costume make it look like you’re moving faster. Light hits things differently, and everything looks different in a photo.

I’ve seen a lot of really epic costumes in photos, but when I saw them in real life I was disappointed. A lot of flubs or cut corners are more obvious in person. And a wadded ball of sculpey can look like blown glass in a photo from the right angle. Then others are edited too much in real life, and they photograph flat and dull. I think my stuff falls in that category. I build it for my own eye, which is only 6″ away. My costumes look best if your face is within a foot of it, and they get less and less cool the further back you go. (No one has ever been within 6″ of my costume. That would be creepy.) So it all looks fantastic to me while I’m working on it, but kind of flat and dead in photos.

Bleh. I forgot how much I hate ruffles.

I hate ruffles so much.

Yesterday I got an invitation to a Japanese food symposium. First we show up and the deputy consul general of Japan in New York gives a speech, then Prof. Bestor (cultural anthropologist from Harvard who does field work at the Tsukiji fish market) will give a presentation on globalization and Japanese food culture. Then David Bouley will talk about Japanese ingredients, then Japan’s largest organic foods organization will talk about going organic in Japan, and Japan’s largest cultivator of yellowtail will talk about cultivating yellowtail in Japan. Then there will be 3 hours of cooking demonstrations and tasting menus from every major Japanese chef in NY.

LOL. Apparently they knew I was coming. Cultural anthropology and Japanese food culture … I wonder if Prof. Bestor needs a grad student? (Or a slave.)

Hmrr. I appear to have misjudged one thing, though. The food program doesn’t start until 3. Maybe I was supposed to eat before going. I better go hit the vending machine.