Under Pressure

Actually, according to my new Omron sphygmomanometer (uncalibrated)  I'm running at the high end of the normal range. (My Kaiser doc says bring it in and they'll calibrate it).

Dracula is going into tech next weekend and I'm in rehearsals this weekend. I bowed out of Enemy of the People and Pinocchio but I've offered to advise, train, mentor and loan equipment. So it would be wrong to say there's no strings on me.

The sewing is going...meh.

The first muslin was way off. My friend pinned it up, I transferred the markings to fresh pieces, then laid the Simplicity patterns I'd just purchased on top as a sanity check. Turns out our alterations had brought my original pattern very close to what was on the Simplicity. Did a little further adjustment, stitched up a fresh muslin and that one fit decently. So now I can start cutting the real fabric.

The first fit of the bass case went poorly as well. On the plus side, turns out I don't like the look of piping on this one so would have re-done it anyhow. And now I know how to do piping. In any case, I'm disheartened by how long it is taking for what I thought was a simple build.




I still have hopes of finishing a few things. Priority now is things that are in the way of straightening up my room (there's so many half-built projects I can't even move a broom around). Bass case is one of those. So is repairs on the bass itself.

And, yeah, there's a bit of a stack. And I can't help thinking (especially as I make stabs at organizing and prioritizing) how many other things I've started that are now taking up closet space or, at least, mental space.

Worst offender is Holocrons. The three "final" holos are spread out over my desk waiting for detail paint and final assembly. Cluttering the floor by the desk are Sterilyte bins of Holocron parts, and taking up the shelf over the Behringer is the reflow oven.



Over by the futon are many of my metal-working tools, as well as another bin of metal stock and parts-in-progress for work. Half of those tools used to be in a bin dedicated to M40 builds. I've had a few people ask about them over the years since the last run and it is tempting to log a few more hours on that lathe I spend so much membership money to ensure access to.

Somewhere in there are also the prints for caseless rounds I should really finish up so I can determine how the 3d file needs to be modified.

Of course I'd like to make a new tool roll for those metal working tools. And the sewing machine has a nice big table to itself at my workplace (it is a work mate I'm helping with the costume for his kid). So seems like a logical time to do a little more stitching. In a moment of ludicrous optimism I even purchased three yards of a cute ukulele print and a Hawaiian shirt pattern...

It is amazing how much closet space fabric can take up. Between that and the sewing machine and the box of associated tools (zipper foot, spare bobbins, seam gauge, Fiskers, etc.) I would really like them out of the way. There's no room here for laying and cutting anyhow.

And, yes, before I got my present full-time job I was having some serious cosplay thoughts. Even
purchased a frock coat pattern, although those are a huge pain to stitch up. Not that these thoughts have quite ended, although my main wearable goal at the moment is Bronze Age gear -- sandals at the least -- for research purposes on the new novel.

Every now and then get tempted towards something like the Dragon Priest mask from Skyrim (there's a nice PDO I have right now and that's supposed to be fast....) And of course my next big personal prop project continues to be the Wraith Stone. And of course, one day would love to revise the 3d files and try to make a more "screen accurate" version of Lara's 2013 necklace...*

Fixing the bass reminded me that I have back in the closet (and, yes, taking up space) a fretboard and neck and the start of a body for a solid-body electric ukulele. I've pretty much decided I'm too impatient these days (and too conscious of how much money I get if I actually show up to work instead of doing stuff at home) to do the hand-carved hard wood trilobite I was working on, but there was the simpler Vulcan-Lyre inspired teardrop design...

Fixing the bass and putting it in a case will take care of some clutter. The Pfetchner is getting a new bridge but that doesn't take up any more room (I've got it at work anyhow, where I have a nice quiet space to practice). The Behringer is however currently useless to me because I have no simple way of firing it up to try out musical ideas.

And part of the fill of the various parts boxes taking up floor space at the foot of the overstuffed bookshelves is drivers and amps and other stuff to make "some" sort of keyboard amp/tone box. Very possibly based around a Raspberry Pi -- which also cleans out another Sterilyte bin full of Pi parts and accessories.

Still, a bigger hole in the pile will come from just putting the old mics and mixers and speakers in storage. I gave away the e-drum stuff and sold off many of the rack modules and can dump old cable (especially the to-be-repaired XLR I simply don't have patience to deal with anymore). Not as much fun as building, though.

I am at the moment terribly tempted by a brass casting of what appears to be a Mycenean sword. Would be quite a few hours of shaping and polishing and fitting a hilt, of course. Possibly as time consuming as getting back to my flint-knapping kit (which also could use a cute roll to protect the tools -- but in that case, something quite far from machine-stitched).

My prop weaponry desires also include, however, revisiting the Retro Raygun. Besides revamping the speaker and power supply for more volume, I'd really like a more Diesel Punk; less spray chrome, more well-used metal. And productionize it while I'm at it; fix the 3d files and run off a new circuit board so the thing could be a kit that anyone could assemble in a few hours.

And you know, that's not that scary a list, not right there. I'm still logging off to finish a Red Trolley and play some Skyrim.



* I have a new head canon on that protean prop. Hyperdiffusionism is real in the Tomb Raider universe, and an Ainu jade-carver was exposed to Maori greenstone carvings, thus producing a weird hybrid of at least two different cultures; a little bit Koru, a little bit Magatama. Well, that's what I'll carve. Would be a good preparation for the Wraith Stone; carve this somewhere between 2-up and at scale in clay, then scan it for a new printable 3D file.